Phnom Penh: Friday, 18th December 2020 Proparco granted a $50 million credit line to Sathapana Bank in order to support SME financing and women entrepreneurship in the country.
Sathapana Bank is one of Cambodia’s largest banks, particularly active in the financing of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises “MSMEs”, which play a key role in the Cambodian economy. The bank benefits from extensive experience in the microfinance sector and relies on a wide network of offices in the country, in particular in rural areas.
$25 million of this $50 million credit line will be dedicated to supporting the development of the bank’s activity towards SMEs, while the other $25 million will be dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurship, as defined by the 2X Challenge criteria. The 2X Challenge: Financing for women is an initiative launched by the G7 Development Finance Institutions, including Proparco, in 2018 to promote gender-lens investing in developing and emerging economies.
Commenting on the operation, Proparco’s Regional Director for North and South-East Asia Magali Roux said, “Due to its unique contribution to SME development and women empowerment in Cambodia, Sathapana Bank plays a key role in Cambodia’s development and is, therefore, an ideal partner for Proparco. We are very happy to initiate this new partnership, which holds great promises for the future”.
Mr Lim Aun, Chief Executive Officer of Sathapana Bank said, “Providing access to financing, especially for SMEs and women entrepreneurship in Cambodia, is very important to stimulate a sound market and financial position to resume their investment and seek new growth opportunities. This credit line will ensure sustainable businesses by participating in and benefit from a thriving and inclusive economy during these difficult conditions due to the impact of Covid-19. We are delighted with this partnership and honoured for being recognized by the Proparco for our substantial experiences and contribution to the country’s financial sector”.
About 3,600 MSMEs should benefit from this operation, in particular in the retail, services and agriculture sectors. A majority of these MSMEs are expected to be owned or managed by women. This project will thus contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 5 Gender Equality and 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth.
Proparco has been supporting sustainable development for 40 years across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East. As the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Proparco provides funding and support to companies and financial institutions and helps them control the impacts of their activity.
In 2019 Proparco has committed € 2.5 billion of financing, focused on key development sectors: infrastructure, especially renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, healthcare and education. Its interventions support private sector actors who contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services, and who contribute to poverty reduction and the fight against climate change.
Asia is Proparco’s 3rd region of intervention, with € 388 million granted in 2019, representing 15% of its commitments. For more information, please visit www.proparco.fr/en and https://twitter.com/proparco
Sathapana Bank is one of the leading commercial banks in Cambodia with total assets of over $2.0 billion and more than 4,000 employees. We have a large branch network nationwide with more than 170 branches and more than 230 ATMs with cash recycling capability. We provide full banking services such as loans, deposits, iBanking, Mobile Banking, debit & credit cards, domestic and foreign remittances, Western Union, trade finance, and other services. We are also offering tax collection services, public services payment with the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, and various cooperation with mobile payment providers such as WING, Pi Pay, True Money, Ly Hour Veluy, eMoney, and Bakong to give further convenience to our customers.
For more information, please visit www.sathapana.com.kh and facebook.com/Sathapanabank.
Source: Ambassade de France au Cambodge
