China Development Bank, IFC provide 269mln USD loans to support dev't of Cambodia's SMEs

People work at a factory in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone (SSEZ) in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia on July 19, 2022. (SSEZ/Handout via Xinhua)

China Development Bank (CDB), one of the country's policy banks, and International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, led many other financial institutions and issued 269 million U.S. dollars of loans in full amount to Cambodia's ACLEDA Bank on Monday, aiming to help the Cambodian bank better serve local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), according to the announcement released by CDB on Tuesday.

Of the total, 100 million U.S. dollars of loans was granted by CDB.

The issuance of the loans marks the conclusion of the first cooperation in syndicated loan project and third-party market cooperation between the CDB and the World Bank in the ASEAN region.

At least 100 million U.S. dollars of the syndicated loans will be used to support SMEs owned by women in Cambodia, according to CDB.  

The financing agreement of the loan project clearly requires to fulfill the obligations of sustainable development such as environmental protection and social responsibility, strictly control the investment direction of funds, and prevent adverse impacts on local people, environment, community security, biodiversity, cultural heritage, etc.

CDB said it would continue focusing on key areas of cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and work with relevant international financial institutions to provide support for small but significant projects.