Thailand
Cambodia: ADB issues guide to local bond market
Aiming to inject momentum into their nascent debt markets, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released yesterday bond market guides for Cambodia and Myanmar.
Titled ‘ASEAN+3 bond market guide’, the publications provide practical and detailed information on the investment climate, rules, laws, opportunities, and characteristics of the bond markets of the two Southeast Asian countries.
Yasuyuki Sawada, ADB’s chief economist, said the bond market are crucial in increasing economic growth as they contribute to government revenue.
“Strong domestic bond markets are critical for a country’s growth and development,” said Mr Sawada.
“The bond markets in Cambodia and Myanmar are still in the early development stages, but as they evolve, they will help to fund much-needed infrastructure development and make businesses resilient against global financial shocks.”
The new guides are part of a series on Asia’s local currency bond markets that aim to help potential bond market issuers, investors, and financial intermediaries understand the local context and encourage their participation in the region’s rapidly developing bond markets.
Soleil Lamun, director of the market operations department at Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), told Khmer Times that the guides give investors quick access to information that they need to make their investment decisions.
“Investors in the bond market are typically big corporations like investment funds, insurance companies and banks.
“Smaller investors are relatively rare in this market. This mean that we can expect the number of transactions to be even lower than in the stock market. However, the amounts traded will be much bigger,” he explained.
In December, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC), the stock market regulator, approved the rules that will regulate the local bond market, together with three new financial tools that aim to boost trading on the local bourse.
“We already set up all the necessary infrastructure to run the bond market. We’re just waiting for companies to issue bonds,” said Mr Soleil.
Guides are also available for Brunei, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
Each guide is produced in close consultation with local policymakers and market players.
Source: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/50106084/adb-issues-guide-to-local-bond-market/