Washington
13 September 2007
Cambodia may want a stock market, but without a strong rule of law, no one will buy into it, according to lawmaker Monh Sophan, a member of the government coalition party, Funcinpec.
The law aims to encourage investment through a stock market, a new concept to Cambodia that includes the printing of bonds for sale, Monh Sophan said Thursday on "Hello VOA."
The law, on issuance and trading, would pave the way for a stock market in the next two years. It was passed one week after the government announced it wanted to have a stock market by 2009.
A strong market requires investor confidence, something that Cambodia has a hard time generating.
The rule of law must be stronger before investors will entrust their money to a stock market or other securities, Monh Sophan said.
A non-transparent, non-neutral stock market will not succeed, he added.
Kang Chandararoth, a Cambodian economist, has said that a committee of nine leaders from various national agencies will have to keep politics out of the securities market.
"This is critical to its survival," he said recently.
Seventy-nine lawmakers voted for the law, which was based on international best practices, officials said. The law is awaiting final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni.
The law aims to encourage investment through a stock market, a new concept to Cambodia that includes the printing of bonds for sale, Monh Sophan said Thursday on "Hello VOA."
The law, on issuance and trading, would pave the way for a stock market in the next two years. It was passed one week after the government announced it wanted to have a stock market by 2009.
A strong market requires investor confidence, something that Cambodia has a hard time generating.
The rule of law must be stronger before investors will entrust their money to a stock market or other securities, Monh Sophan said.
A non-transparent, non-neutral stock market will not succeed, he added.
Kang Chandararoth, a Cambodian economist, has said that a committee of nine leaders from various national agencies will have to keep politics out of the securities market.
"This is critical to its survival," he said recently.
Seventy-nine lawmakers voted for the law, which was based on international best practices, officials said. The law is awaiting final approval by King Norodom Sihamoni.
