High hopes for new Japanese bank

By Chun Sophal

The Mekong Times

Finance Minister Keat Chhon Thursday predicted that the newest arrival on the Cambodian banking scene, Maruhan Japan Bank, will attract Japanese investors to Cambodia.The new bank, which is located on Phnom Penh’s Norodom Boulevard, was inaugurated Thursday. Japan is Cambodia’s largest donor, yet the level of Japanese private investment in Cambodia remains minimal. A Council for Development of Cambodia (CDC) report shows trifling levels of Japanese business transactions over the past 15 years when compared to those of Chinese and Korean investors.Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) lawmaker Yim Sovann was unconvinced by the official rhetoric, saying Maruhan Japan Bank could act as a conduit for Japanese funds only if the level of credit on offer to clients was sufficient. However, the most crucial issue for investors remains corruption, Yim Sovann said. “[I]f corruption still persists, investors will not come [to Cambodia],” he warned. “Please don’t think that the opening of a small Japanese bank would attract more investors to Cambodia. I have no optimism.”The bank has funds of US$25 million with Maruhan Japan Bank Chairman Han Chang-Woo holding 85 percent and an unspecified Cambodian investor the rest.Han Chang-Woo said his bank will offer quality financial services for both local and international enterprises in a wide range of fields. “We think that this bank will attract investment from Japanese companies in the Kingdom of Cambodia in order to make its economy even more dynamic,” he predicted.Maruhan is the 20th commercial bank to open in Cambodia.Chea Chantho, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia, said the opening of Maruhan Japan Bank reflects Japanese investors’ increasing confidence in the Cambodian banking system.Chan Sophal, a researcher with the Cambodia Development Resource Institute (CDRI), said Cambodia’s political stability and abundance of natural resources is a lure to investors. “I think it is a big achievement that Cambodia is winning Japanese investors’ confidence,” he said. “This is the start of investors who have real capital. I think that, from now on, the number of Japanese investors in Cambodia can only increase.”