Sunday, April 22, 2012

Cambodia's Stock Market - Questions

Dear All,

I just came across news regarding Cambodia. One of topics has caught my attention. The first stock market transaction in Phnom Penh started on last Wednesday became the breaking news. For this special event, Keat Chhon, minister of Economy and Finance, said : “This is a historic day to mark the first launch of a Cambodian stock exchange. This is a leap forward for Cambodia’s finance sector”.

This event is no doubt a historic day but I have 3 questions (maybe stupid questions):
  1. How can a short term financial investment is supposed to finance Cambodia’s economic and industrial development which needs long term investment?
  2. How much poor Cambodian people or other investors can be guaranteed given the current accounting and audit system in Cambodia ?
  3. How can M. Keat Chhon assure that Cambodia will not move toward a “Casino Economy”?
Best Regards

Kith Chamroeun

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Answers:
Q1. Stupid question.
Q2. No effect on the poor, because they are already broke. Only stupid investors will lose.
Q3. Stupid question. It is already a casino economy.

OOOO

Anonymous said...

Just and wait and see without any guessing since we don't have all the fact in front of us.

To say this and that is pure speculation and pure speculation is tantamount to prejudice and a strong possibility of being wrong!

Many countries on earth have stock markets so for Cambodia to have a stock market is nothing new; it is an emerging economy so let the investors decide for themselves since they are not that stupid.

If they invest in Cambodian economy, then it is good. If we wait for everything to be good before we do anything then we will keep waiting for a long time and get nothing done.

Anonymous said...

I don't trust the corruptor run the stock exchange or investment.

Anonymous said...

1) This was not a short term financing from PPWSA perspective. The moneys raised from the IPO will be use to build-out additional infractructure to reach more costumers.

2)Investment(long term) or speculation(short term)is never a sure thing that is why one is rewarded with either capital appriciation or divident or both. Equity investment is high risk venture; thus, if you are poor and event if you are rich but cannot afford to wait when the market turn against you, you have not business investing in the first place. I would recomment saving or money market accounts instead.

3)There will be always an element of speculation in any financial markets anywhere. There are hundreds risks to worry about in the Cambodian markets then such cliche as "Casino Economy".

Anonymous said...

1:34pm
Your reply does make you look even more stupid than a 5 years old kid who just begins his first reading.

After I read this article, the author seemed to intentionally "mock" the person name Keat Chhon who proclaimed of historic day of Cambodia Stock exchange.

Anonymous said...

DO NOT OR EVER INVEST IN CAMBODIA.

Anonymous said...

here's my opinion, as a long standing khmer investor on a foreign stock exchange:
1) the stock exchange is not a casino, and shares are not lottery tickets. investing in shares is NOT gambling although speculators can buy in & sell out whenever they wish. Company equity shares are not short term financial instruments. They exist as long as the company does. Do not confuse investment horizon of the Investor (holding period) with the liquidity of the instrument (how quickly you can turn them to cash). The stock exchange is both a primary market (where emerging companies raise funds via IPOs) and a secondary market where existing holders trade their holdings. As such they are indispensable to a modern economy because it provides the floor on which people's savings can be put to productive use (by funding companies). Shareholders OWN their listed companies. Gamblers DO NOT own the casino (unless they own shares to the casino).
(2)Good question - this is where i'm cautious about the Cambodian Stock Exchange. unless security, accounting & commercial laws apply (and company governance is transparent) chances are that the CSX will be a place to avoid. e.g What stops staff of the CSX from manipulating the prices? (they see both side of the buy & sell, and the quantities).. what stops a bogus company from raising money and someone later make a run with it? how will CSX deal with unhappy shareholders? do they know the risks of owning shares? do they know the risks faced by the company they are invested in?
3)- Again the stock exchange is NOT a casino. To ensure that the public has confidence in CSX, Keat Chhon should have a market surveillance body that will generally scrutinise what CSX and its backers do and what kind of recourse the investing public has.
One thing i'd like Keat Chhon to do is ensure CSX commit funds for a continuous public education campaign.

Anonymous said...

6:30 AM
I do not or never trust Cambodia stock exchange regardless.
How can I trust Cambodia that she will not move to Casino?

I did the backgrounds check on Keat Chhon, he is a Khmer of Vietnamese origin who married to a Communist Vietnamese woman he met in Farnce, and this guy is put on charge?

I'll take my money out, sorry.

I lost once to the Vietnamese, and I am not going to play with the cheaters again.

Anonymous said...

6:51AM - i respect your views on this. Nevertheless it would be unfortunate if our beloved country does not modernise its capital markets. The minute the word spread that people are making money on CSX, expect the moneyed middle class in PPenh to start buying. i also expect to see a shallow exchange at first as people start to learn the ropes(ie parcels bought or sold will tend to move prices noticeably).The very rich will have had their money invested overseas anyway so are unlikely to be attracted by CSX - but who knows, they may find it attractive to "gamble" in PPenh instead of S'pore or HK markets.

Anonymous said...

all question is legitimate, i think. it is up to all of us who are interested in helping cambodia set up the stock market exchange to demand reform, transparency, and everything else in black and white. it is imperative that cambodia have a stock market just like all the countries out there; however, we want cambodia to follow the international standard like other stock market in america, europe, korea, japan, honk kong, etc, etc... people are concerned because they want to learn more about it.