Microfinance Country Information
Cambodia

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n cambodia, NGOs are the main supplier of small-scale credit but they reach only a small fraction of the population, 90 percent of whom live in the rural areas. Commercial banks are mostly confined to Phnom Penh and eight provincial towns. There are no commercial bank branches in 15 provinces in the country. There are about 90 NGOs, which are engaged in credit and savings operations in Cambodia, mainly for small-scale loans in the rural area. With growing demand for rural credit, there is a need to expand NGO activities in the medium term. While a number of NGOs are expected to become licensed microfinance institutions (MFIs) to expand their credit activities and deposit bases, other smaller NGOs require assistance in strengthening their technical capability for sound financial management and operations.

- Asian Development Bank

         
   
INCENTIVISING SOCIAL PERFORMANCE in AMK, Cambodia
AMK encourages its staff to maintain a social focus through an induction on the mission and guiding principles, staff appraisals including social responsibility, and feedback and interaction through regular meetings. Additionally, AMK's incentive scheme for field staff is based on operational, portfolio quality and cost efficiency parameters, but also rewards staff working in more difficult and remote areas, by increasing the amount for staff in areas of lower population density, higher dependency on farm-based livelihoods, higher incidence of flood or droughts, and higher incidence of poverty.
Source: Soundbites - Imp-Act Consortium
         

         
   
BALANCING SOCIAL AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE in AMK Cambodia
Meeting social objectives such as AMK’s – working in rural and more remote areas of Cambodia and providing appropriate products –invariably entails higher costs of operation and requires high operating efficiency, which AMK has achieved through high staff productivity thanks to the group model. Expanding to more remote villages than other MFIs may introduce some ‘inefficiency’ in the short-term, but as market research shows lower competition, the decision is thus both socially and financially sound because of the medium and long-term market potential in these areas.
Source: Soundbites - Imp-Act Consortium
         

Hari Srinivas - hsrinivas@gdrc.org
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