Nearly 300 Cambodian SMEs apply for loans from ARDB

Phnom Penh (VNA) – Cambodia’s Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (ARDB) said that it has received more than 288 loan applications so far with a total value of 31 million USD from small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), according to Khmer Times.

In March this year, the Cambodian government allocated 50 million USD special fund for SMEs. The fund is designed to specifically focus on agri-processing, food processing, agri-business, crops including vegetables, livestock and the aquatic business plus any enterprise that uses raw materials from agriculture.

The bank said the government has recently reduced the interest rate from 6 to 5 percent for working capital and 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent for investment capital, as well as increase the repayment period for up to seven years. SMEs can borrow up to 300,000 USD.

Kao Thach, ARDB Director-General, said the bank had also cooperated with Cambodia’s Investors Club (CIC) acting as a credit guarantee on behalf of the borrowers, especially owners of SMEs, and provides cooperation by offering information on borrowers to the bank. The CIC will also help the SME owners who lack collateral to get additional working capital to expand their business and boost relationships between them and producers, processors and goods collectors with the bank as a basis to make a loan assessment.

However, he said the credit guarantee on behalf of the borrowers will be only for medium enterprises or manufacturing, not small-scale enterprises.

Thach also urged and encouraged the SMS owners across the country to quickly prepare the necessary documents in order to get a loan from the ARDB to expand their business./.