Phillip Bank, the only Singaporean-owned commercial bank operating in Cambodia, has recently added another prestigious milestone to its storied legacy, earning the title of “Best Digital Transformation Initiative — Banking — Cambodia 2025” from International Finance. This prestigious recognition highlights the Bank’s commitment to innovation, customer-focused solutions, and its vision of setting new standards in Cambodia’s fast-changing financial landscape.

A Testament To Digital Leadership

Cambodia’s retail and business landscape is unlike any other, having swiftly transitioned into a mobile- and QR-first economy, where mobile and QR payments now dominate. In this distinctive environment, Phillip Bank has developed the majority of its digital platforms in-house, ensuring unparalleled flexibility, customisation, and speed to meet the ever-evolving needs of customers.

Phillip Bank’s digital strategy is clear: to compete with more established players in the Cambodian market by focusing on speed, agility, and customer value. Taking an agile and iterative approach, the bank has been introducing solutions that enhance convenience, strengthen financial literacy, and promote digital adoption nationwide.

Over the past few years, Phillip Bank has delivered transformative initiatives. In 2023, the retail “Phillip Mobile App” was relaunched with a fresh, intuitive, and consumer-friendly design.

In 2025, the Phillip Bank completed a full overhaul of its “Phillip Business Internet Banking” platform, created after two years of customer feedback to address pain points across all business types, from family-run small and medium ventures to multinational corporations.

Phillip Bank has also pioneered Cambodia’s first fully digital mobile bancassurance solution, integrating with Phillip Insurance and Phillip Life to provide end-to-end insurance services, from payments to underwriting and policy issuance. The tool works entirely online, without human intervention.
Currently, Phillip Bank is co-leading the launch of a bank-agnostic ATM network powered by KHQR, broadening customer access across the country.

The Visionary Leader

Chan Mach, the Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Phillip Bank, is the first native CEO of KREDIT Microfinance.

Under his leadership, KREDIT Microfinance became sustainable and tripled its portfolio. Chan Mach has also received a certificate in Commercial Loan to Business from OMAGA Performance, USA, in addition to completing two Master’s Degrees: an MBA and an MFB.

Having multiple specialisations in fields such as microfinance and banking, Mach is also a member of the Association of Banks in Cambodia (ABC). After the merger between Phillip Bank and KREDIT Microfinance, Mach became the bank’s CEO.

Upon winning the IF Award, Chan Mach said, “We are honoured to receive the Best Digital Transformation Initiative in Banking award from International Finance. This achievement reflects our belief that digital transformation must combine cutting-edge innovation with customer-centric care. Whether through the Phillip Mobile Banking app, the Phillip Business Internet Banking platform, or our pioneering digital bancassurance solution, we remain committed to making banking simpler, smarter, and more reliable for our customers.”

As Phillip Bank continues its digital journey, its vision remains clear: to blend international standards with local insights, ensuring that customers enjoy world-class innovation and personalised care. By building future-ready financial solutions, Phillip Bank aims to be a trusted partner in the financial journeys of individuals, families, and businesses across Cambodia.

The post Phillip Bank: Shaping Cambodia’s future with digital solutions appeared first on International Finance.

According to The Washington Post, the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is reportedly preparing to cancel its $2.4 billion deal with Verizon and shift the work to the SpaceX subsidiary.

While the above development may look a controversial one, given the fact that Elon Musk, the self-styled “reformer” of the American bureaucracy (under the Donald Trump administration), also owns Starlink, thereby potentially raising the “conflict of interest” allegations, this copy will discuss something else (another controversy) related to the Starlink, as the satellite internet constellation has now found itself powering Myanmar-based cyber-criminals, with the latter making billions from scam compounds located in the Southeast Asian country. To make matters worse, these “compounds” have allegedly enslaved tens of thousands of people.

Scam compounds exploit links

In the words of Matt Burgess, a senior writer at WIRED focused on information security, privacy, and data regulation in Europe, “The plea for help arrived last summer. ‘I am in Myanmar and work for a fraud company,’ a Chinese human-trafficking victim wrote in a short email sent from within the Tai Chang scam compound. Like thousands of others in the region, they were promised legitimate work only to find themselves tricked into modern slavery and forced to scam people online for hours every day. Tai Chang, which is located on the Myanmar-Thailand border, has been linked to incidents of torture. ‘I’m not safe, I’m chatting with you secretly,’ they said. Despite the risk, their first request wasn’t to be rescued.”

As per the reports, over 200,000 people in Southeast Asia have been forced to run online scams in recent years, often being enslaved and brutalised, as part of criminal enterprises that have earned billions in stolen funds from these heinous acts. These scams, often known as “Pig Butchering Operations,” have largely been concentrated in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, with China-based crime groups efficiently exploiting instability and poor governance in the Southeast Asian region.

“Though they come at great humanitarian cost, pig butchering scams are undeniably lucrative and, perhaps inevitably, similar operations are now being uncovered on multiple continents and in numerous countries around the world,” WIRED reported in 2024, while adding, “Pig butchering operations that are offshoots of the Southeast Asian activity have emerged in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and West Africa. Many of these expanded operations apparently have links to Chinese-speaking criminals or have evolved in parallel to Chinese Belt and Road Initiative investments, the country’s massive international infrastructure and development initiative.”

In 2023, the FBI had reports of nearly $4 billion in losses from the scams, with some researchers even putting all-time total global losses at $75 billion or more. While Beijing has made a concerted effort in recent months to crack down on pig butchering schemes and human trafficking to scamming centres in the Southeast Asian region, the activity has proliferated around the world nonetheless.

Pig butchering involves building seemingly intimate relationships with victims, following which attacks start by texting potential targets out of the blue and getting them talking. Then, attackers build a rapport and introduce the idea of a special or unique investment opportunity. Finally, victims send funds, typically cryptocurrency, through a malicious platform meant to look like a legitimate money management service, and attackers must launder the money from there.

The entire crime racket operates through careful planning from a large workforce. As per the experts, people from more than 60 countries have been abducted and trafficked to Southeast Asian scamming compounds that typically operate with massive numbers of forced workers. And in recent months, scam centres have been detected around the world as well, in different configurations and sizes, but with the same goal.

Talking about the Tai Chang scam compound, the facility’s internet connection had recently been cut off from Thailand, the person (the Chinese human-trafficking victim as mentioned by Burgess) wrote in the messages to the anti-scam group GASO in June 2024. However, instead of scamming within the compound grinding to a halt, the organised criminals have reportedly found another way to stay online.

And that’s where Starlink is coming into the picture, as the person wrote, “Elon Musk’s Starlink is installed above all the buildings in the campus where we are now. Now the fraud work is running normally. If the fraud network here is down, we can regain our freedom.”

However, the messages from the Chinese human-trafficking victim soon landed on the desk of Erin West, the then-deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County, California. West, a longtime advocate for victims of so-called pig butchering and other types of cryptocurrency scams, wrote to a SpaceX lawyer.
“Starlink connections appeared to be helping criminals at Tai Chang to scam Americans and fuel their internet needs,” West alleged at the end of July 2024. She offered to share more information to help the company in “disrupting the work of bad actors.” However, according to West, SpaceX and Starlink never replied to her communications.

Starlink: Haven for scammers?

As per Burgess, reports of Starlink’s use at Tai Chang are not the work of a one-off criminal. There are multibillion-dollar empires across Southeast Asia that appear to be widely using satellite internet. At least eight scam compounds based around the Myanmar-Thailand border region are using Starlink devices, according to mobile phone connection data.

“Between November 2024 and the start of February, hundreds of mobile phones logged their locations and use of Starlink at known scam compounds more than 40,000 times, according to the mobile phone data, which was collected by an online advertising industry tool,” Burgess mentioned.

The eight compounds, spread around the Myawaddy region of war-torn Myanmar, would likely have installed multiple Starlink devices. As Burgess and WIRED reviewed the photos of Tai Chang, it appeared to show dozens of white Starlink satellite dishes on a single rooftop, while human rights watchdogs and other experts say that Starlink use at the scam compounds has increased since 2024.

“I believe that SpaceX must have the capacity to stop this problem,” says Rangsiman Rome, an opposition member of the House of Representatives in Thailand who chairs a parliamentary committee on national security and border issues.

At the start of February 2025, Rome tagged Elon Musk in a post on X, saying criminals are “exploiting Starlink for massive fraud” at scam compounds in the region. He did not get a reply.

SpaceX can terminate services to users if they participate in “fraudulent” activities or if a system is used in unauthorised locations. It has previously emailed users in locations it doesn’t officially offer services to and threatened to shut down accounts.

“Our own technology is being used against us. Starlink is an American company, and it is the backbone for how these bad actors can access Americans,” said Erin West, who founded the non-profit “Operation Shamrock” to take action against investment scammers.

“If SpaceX obtains knowledge that a Starlink terminal is being used by a sanctioned or unauthorised party, we investigate the claim and take actions to deactivate the terminal if confirmed,” the company said previously. However, on the alleged links with pig butchering scams, the satellite internet provider has decided to remain silent till now.

The KK Park example

Let’s talk about the KK Park Scam Compound to make things clear. In the words of Burgess, “the green, mountainous border separating Myanmar and Thailand runs for 1,500 miles. Around 200 miles of the border follow the Moei River, where dozens of compounds have replaced valley fields over the past five years. Rome, the Thai MP, says officials have identified 75 compounds across Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos, with 40 of those being in Myanmar’s Myawaddy region.”
“From the outside, the compounds resemble hotels or apartment blocks, but they are surrounded by high fences, watch towers, and armed guards. People have been trafficked from more than 60 countries. Around 120,000 people are likely held in scam compounds across Myanmar, according to one United Nations report from 2023, with another 100,000 captives in Cambodia,” he noted.

Starlink has recently agreed to increase its availability in Cambodia, according to local reports. Within the compounds, victims are typically forced to work day and night to scam hundreds of people at a time. This includes carrying out long-running investment scams that have netted criminals up to $75 billion over the past few years. If the trafficking victims don’t comply, they face torture, with either escape or paying a ransom becoming the only way out.

Stable internet connections are crucial for the operations to be successful, from the initial targeting of potential human trafficking victims with false job postings to daily scamming and ultimately money laundering.

Palm Naripthaphan, an executive adviser at Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), said that scam centres along the Myanmar-Thailand border have historically used mobile connections from cell carriers based in either of the two Southeast Asian countries. They can also connect to fibre-optic cables in Thailand or run them across the river Moei. Increasingly, Naripthaphan believes, Starlink has played a role.

“The Musk-owned satellite system is composed of multiple elements. More than 6,000 Starlink satellites orbit Earth and beam down internet connectivity to white, rectangular Starlink dishes (dubbed Dishy McFlatface). Some are portable and easy to set up, and they provide internet connections in areas where there are little or no other options, including war zones such as Ukraine,” Burgess continued.

Starlink is not officially licensed in Myanmar, which has been embroiled in a civil war since the 2021 coup, with the service being reportedly banned by the military junta. The company’s coverage map doesn’t list any availability in the country. But this hasn’t stopped Starlink terminals from working and being frequently used in Myanmar to combat frequent internet shutdowns.

Across eight known scam compound areas, KK Park, Tai Chang, Dongmei, Huanya, UK Compound, Gate 25, Apolo, and Shwe Kokko, mobile phones have logged thousands of occurrences of getting online using Starlink’s networks in recent months, according to data.

“At least 412 devices listed Starlink as their internet provider at the compound locations between November and February, according to an analyst with access to location data from the online advertising industry. In total, 40,800 instances were logged,” the media outlet noted.

Tough task for law enforcers

According to a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime report published in October 2024, Thai officials seized 78 Starlink receivers that are believed to have been heading for scam compounds in Myanmar. Myanmar’s government also seized other Starlink devices.

At the start of February 2025, Thailand cut internet connections, electricity, and fuel supplies to some areas around the compounds. Thousands have since been rescued by officials in one of the most widespread crackdowns on the compounds so far. However, the results have been mixed.

According to Mechelle B Moore, the CEO of anti-trafficking nonprofit “Global Alms Incorporated,” some shelters are struggling to cope with the number of people being freed. Also, past efforts to disrupt scam operations by shutting off internet connections have not been effective, partly due to Starlink connectivity.

About 7,000 people were rescued from Myanmar-based illegal call centre operations and were waiting to be transferred to Thailand, Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said on February 18. While the country has started its large-scale crackdown on scam centres operating on the Myanmar border, the road is too long, given the fact that Cambodia and Laos, which also share borders with Thailand, have in recent years become havens for transnational crime syndicates operating online scam operations.

“It’s massive, and there are thousands of people in there that have been brought in, typically through Thailand, so it’s a huge move if they clean the compounds and scams out,” said Jeremy Douglas, from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Myanmar’s border area, Myawaddy, has emerged as one of the largest single clusters of scam compounds in the region, and possibly the world, said Douglas. And the victims were mostly from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, being tricked into enslaved work. Scams generated from Myawaddy resulted in financial losses between $18 billion and $37 billion in 2023, as per the United Nations, which also highlighted that at least 120,000 people across Myanmar and another 100,000 in Cambodia may be held in situations where they are forced to execute lucrative online scams.

“Thailand has renewed efforts this year to crack down on the operations after a high-profile kidnapping of a Chinese actor in Myanmar in January. The 22-year-old man, Wang Xing, was abducted after arriving in Thailand for what he believed was a casting call with film producers,” The Guardian reported.

Douglas noted the Myanmar military’s Border Guard Force (BGF), which controls Myawaddy, has been under immense pressure to crack down on the compounds. About 200 Chinese nationals were flown back to China on a China Southern Airlines flight recently, as reported by the Bangkok Post. On the other hand, about 260 people from scam operations were deported from Myanmar in February. The group represented 20 nationalities, including 138 Ethiopians.

Mechelle B Moore said, “We have not heard of any companies shutting down or suspending operations because they don’t have access to the internet. Victims will all confirm that they’re flipped over to Starlink or they use cellular dongles with SIM cards in them. When one doesn’t work, they just flick over to the other. It doesn’t stop operations at all.”

It seems as clear as daylight: Starlink’s “easy-to-access” and cost-friendly satellite internet model has gone terribly against the company, especially in Southeast Asia. Being involved in things like “Pig Butcher Scam” and “Forced Slavery,” even though unknowingly, will likely affect the company’s prospects in this part of the world in the coming days, unless and until the Elon Musk-led venture gets serious on the compliance front.

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B.Grimm, Thailand’s oldest German-Thai infrastructure developer founded in 1878, started as a manufacturer of European modern medicines for Siam in the reign of King Rama V. Since then, B.Grimm has grown from a venture business to a large-scale infrastructure developer. Today, B.Grimm is a conglomerate company with widely renowned expertise in building and industrial systems, healthcare, transportation, real estate, lifestyle, and emerging digital technologies; and now is also a country’s key player in the energy business.

The company ventured into the energy sector in the 1990s with B.Grimm Power as its strong investing arm and has been a listed public company limited since 2017.

B.Grimm Power is committed to creating value for society in the form of a “Sustainable Utility Solution Provider” by producing high-quality energy and a full range of services to fulfill the needs of its associates, business partners, and society at large. The company constantly applies world-class standards and procedures, growing in a sustainable way domestically and internationally.

B.Grimm Power is also working strenuously to expand its investment in renewable energy, including solar energy, hydropower, wind energy, and energy storage systems (ESS) which are primed to be the epicenter of future energy generations.

In 2019, B.Grimm Power successfully inaugurated the commercial operation of the largest solar power generation project in Southeast Asia in Tay Ninh, southwest Viet Nam, as well as the country’s largest single PPA installed capacity, 257 MW Phuyen TTP JSC, the latter of which was also awarded the Best Power Plant Project Developer – Solar, International Finance Awards 2019.

A new era for renewable energy development
In 2021, the B.Grimm Power-Energy China consortium brought a new era for renewable energy development in Thailand by successfully completing work at the world’s largest hydro-floating solar hybrid project at the Sirindhorn Dam for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

The system shares various existing resources at the dam including transformers, transmission lines, and high voltage stations, thus making the operation cost-effective by translating into lower tariffs. It also helps to reduce greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions by about 47,000 tonnes per year.

“We are pleased and proud to be a part of the endeavor that brings a new era for renewable energy development in Thailand by integrating solar and hydroelectric power in a hybrid system,” according to Dr. Harald Link, President of B.Grimm Power.

Furthermore, B.Grimm Power is also committed to expediting its solar rooftop business in the country and overseas. By expanding the renewable energy business to cover solar rooftops and floating solar, B.Grimm Power can offer a distribution and maintenance model to customers in an integrated and effective manner in order to address environmental issues.

“The solar rooftop business model is in response to social and environmental needs as well as to help us to build long-term partnerships with customers. Today, the solar rooftop has made us more accessible and conveys a symbolic message for others to understand what it means to conduct business with compassion,” said Dr. Harald Link.

B.Grimm Power’s vision of “Empowering the world compassionately” has seen the company’s expansion accelerate into renewable energy with investments in solar, wind, and hydropower projects

Cambodia’s Ray Power Supply venture contributes to B.Grimm Power
Ray Power Supply Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of B.Grimm Solar Power 1 Co., Ltd., is a project company operating a 38MWp ground-mounted solar power facility in Banteay Meanchey Province, Cambodia. The project is a new addition to B.Grimm Power Public Company Limited’s power portfolio in 2020.

Ray Power Supply’s power plant successfully achieved commercial operation on 15 December 2020 and began supplying electricity to state-run utility Electricite Du Cambodge (EDC)’s grid under a 20-year power purchase agreement. This indeed marks the first solar energy project in Cambodia to secure a firm power supply guarantee from the government.

Despite the impact of COVID-19 pandemic and devastating floods in 2020, B.Grimm Power considered the development of this project as a great example of a diligent endeavor with a high degree of professionalism and perseverance of B.Grimm Power’s team spirit to overcome the various restrictions along the way.

In June 2022, the project successfully achieved a financial close of 15-year term financing from a syndicated group of Thai lenders consisting of KASIKORNBANK PLC, Export-Import Bank of Thailand, and Bangkok Bank PLC.

B.Grimm Power’s expanding solar power business is a concrete response to the adaptation of energy demand platforms as an increasing number of organizations, particularly international ones, is turning to renewable energy as a means to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This scheme also aligns with B.Grimm Power’s goal to rapidly enhance clean energy in its generation portfolio as well as fulfilling its mission of “Empowering the world compassionately.”

Dr. Harald Link: Business must prosper together with society
Dr. Harald Link is the Chairman of B.Grimm and President of B.Grimm Power Public Co., Ltd. He is touted as one of Thailand’s foremost philanthropists. A good example is the B.Grimm Boworn Smart Village Project, a model village of sustainable development, covering a village, school, and temple in Aranyaprathet district, Sa Kaeo province.

Education is always at the forefront of Dr. Link’s agenda, and in his capacity as Chairman of the Princess Mother’s Charities Fund of Thailand, he provides nursing scholarships to nursing colleges throughout the country.

Dr. Link has also ensured that B.Grimm continues to support the Little Scientists’ House of Thailand, one of the most successful education projects under the auspices of HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Foundation. Since the project launched in 2010, it has been taught in more than 22,000 kindergarten schools throughout Thailand.

The natural environment is equally important. Apart from its reforestation projects, B.Grimm plays a leading role in supporting WWF-Thailand’s ambitious “Save the Tigers” conservation programme.

In his role as the Chairman of the Thailand Equestrian Federation, Dr. Link gives full financial support to Thailand National Team riders. His proudest achievement came when the Thai Polo & Equestrian Club was selected by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) to host the FEI Asian Championships. Through his initiative, Thailand became the first country in Asia to host the Asian Championship. In 2021, with Dr. Link’s full support, Thailand made history by sending its first national equestrian team to the Tokyo Olympics.

There is no doubt that Dr. Harald Link embodies B.Grimm’s mission statement: “We remain committed to good governance and business responsibility for the economy, society, and the environment, with an important long-term goal to become a net-zero carbon emissions organization by 2050.”

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PropNex’s unit in Cambodia will be led by Mr Alan Neo, who will serve as the chief executive officer. He has 15 years of experience in this sector and will head PropNex Cambodia. PropNex Cambodia will have its headquarters in Phnom Penh and branch offices in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. The unit is expected to have an employee strength of around 500.

He told the media, “PropNex Singapore has a dominant brand presence and is our preferred partner of choice to further establish ourselves in the Cambodian real estate market. Having evaluated many options, I believe PropNex’s training, advanced IT [internet technology] platform and support system can value-add our service to our salesforce. We are excited to embrace the dual career path, a commission scheme model which PropNex pioneered in 2000 to much success and which was subsequently adopted as the industry practice in Singapore.”

According to executive chairman and PropNex chief Ismail Gafoor, the expansion to Cambodia is the next step in the group’s ambitions to be a leading regional real estate agency.

Earlier this month, the firm posted a first-quarter net profit of S$14.8 million, which is nearly double the S$7.6 million net profit recorded in the first quarter of the previous year. This came amid higher revenue from an increase in commission income from agency services and project marketing services.

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currently being used by a large tech company for cross-border payments, media reports

said. The announcement was made by JP Morgan earlier this year and has also been

used during the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) trials of central bank digital

currencies (CBDC).

It has also launched a new division dedicated for its blockchain projects, called Onyx. It

is reported that Umar Farooq, who has headed up JP Morgan’s blockchain projects to

date, will take over the role of chief executive at Onyx.

Takis Georgakopoulos, Global, Head of Wholesale Payments, JPMorgan Chase told the media, “We are launching Onyx because we believe we are shifting to a period of commercialisation of those technologies, moving from research and development to something that can become a real business.”

Recently, the Bank of Japan announced that it will start testing a central bank digital

currency (CBDC) in early fiscal 2021. The BOJ said that it will create a system on the

internet, where the basic functions of the CBDC, including its issuance and circulation,

will be tested.

Cambodia has also officially launched its central bank-backed digital currency earlier

this week. The project is called Bakong, and is an initiative of the National Bank of

Cambodia. The new system will make payments easier and facilitate cashless

transactions, Chea Serey, director general of the central bank, said during a news conference.

Central Bank of the Bahamas also launched what is being as the world’s first-ever central bank digital currency (CBDC).

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The funding round for Clik was led by Openway and Poems, the investment holding company of Phillip Capital.

Many global as well as Cambodian investors also participated in the funding round.

According to the startup, it will use the funds to scale its product engineering and customer service teams. It will also use the funds to officially launch in Cambodia by the end of 2020.

Matthew Tippetts, chief executive officer and co-founder of Clik told the media, “The closing of our seed round is a sign that investors are eager to back future proof platforms for the ‘new normal’ that will inevitably exist post-COVID. It also shows that investors see attractive opportunities for investment in Cambodia, especially in start-ups with robust regional potential.”

“After two years of scaling up and defining the fundamentals of our regional market strategy, we’re ready to accelerate our growth with the closure of our seed round. Our goal here is to offer merchants and consumers a much-needed and attractive digital alternative to cash,” he added.

Established in 2016, the startup currently has nearly 2,500 merchants and five financial institutions in its beta programmes. Reportedly, it  also has more than 56,000 merchants through their partners.

Its list of partners include retailers such as Ucare Pharmacy, convenience shop brand Kiwimart and local conglomerate Chip Mong Retail.

Clik is also integrating its platform with the National Bank of Cambodia as a part of the central bank’s Digital Currencies initiative.

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The expansion is a part of BEST’s plans to develop an efficient logistics network across Southeast Asia.

The China-based logistics company expanded in Thailand and Vietnam last year. This year, it also announced the launch of its operations in Malaysia and Singapore.

According to the company, the transshipment centers in Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh will be equipped with the latest automation devices to ensure highly efficient sorting, weighing, and scanning procedures.

In Cambodia, it will be known as BEST Express Cambodia.

In a statement, the logistics company said the company is committed to provide parcel delivery service throughout Cambodia for ecommerce companies, home shopping channels, as well as individual customers.

Founder, chairman and chief executive at BEST, Johnny Chou said the expansion is central to the company’s strategy to capitalise on the Covid-19-fuelled storm of ecommerce activity.

He told the media, “We are excited to develop our logistics networks in Southeast Asia, a key focus area of our global strategy. The outbreak of Covid-19 accelerated and amplified consumers’ reliance on e-commerce and created even larger potential opportunities in the region.”

“We are confident that our technology-enabled logistics services and high-quality express delivery options will be a critical service component for both merchants and consumers, during both this difficult period and beyond it,” he added.

According to recent research results released by the Development & Research Center of the State Post Bureau, Southeast Asian countries have become the most popular investment destinations of Chinese logistics companies.

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Chang Moo Shin, president of PPC Bank said, “PPCBank is an inclusive bank that cares about the community and country. This is why we feel it is so important to not only provide our customers with comfort and a coffee while they wait, but also to contribute to wider society.” 

PPC Bank aims to explore and discover new ways to consistently engage with customers and make banking accessible to everyone in Cambodia. Shin further expressed “We strongly believe that by continually developing our range of digital services for customers, we are making banking convenient and helping the livelihoods of Cambodians. This is of utmost importance to our staff and projects.”

To cater to this shift in demand, the bank’s branches feature counters under several categories. These include its dedicated Japan, China and Korea desks, in addition to Gold Club membership to ensure customer satisfaction and convenience. Last year, the bank rolled out a host of creative and fun campaigns to enhance its customer service experience. 

The bank’s commitment to serve its customers in the best way possible has reflected in its banking efforts over the past few years. Against this background, PPC Bank won the International Finance Award for Best Customer Service Initiative. “We are proud to have won this highly-esteemed award, which would have been impossible to achieve without the hard work and commitment of our employees and customers. Without their continuous support, we would not be where we are today. We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank both our staff and our incredibly loyal customers who trust our service and security systems, both on the ground and digitally.” 

Currently, PPC Bank operates 21 branches and comprises 51 ATMs across Cambodia. It is a fully licenced commercial bank established in 2008, with a suite of retail and commercial banking facilities across the country.

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This sum might be used by BP for any payments in the pipeline that may become due by KrisEnergy during the period between between April 8, 2020 and Dec 31, 2021.

In essence, a production sharing contract (PSC) is an agreement established between one or more investors and the government granting right over an oilfield for specific duration.

BP Exploration Operating is the subsidiary of oil giant BP. The Andaman II PSC is an exploration block over the North Sumatra Basin spanning 7,400 square kilometres, media reports said.

It is reported that KrisEnergy is yet to receive full financing for Apsara oilfield development which is located off Cambodia. It is expected to extract oil first from Cambodia this year.

The company told a local media, “Although the current oil price action is of concern, KrisEnergy continues to progress the Apsara oil development with the aim to produce first oil later this year.” It has hired Fugro to carry out a geotechnical survey to conduct a survey at the oilfield. Fugro is the world’s leading geo-data specialist.

Drop in petrol and diesel fuel in Cambodia is anticipated to continue this year on the back of the Cover-19 pandemic and other global tensions. Currently, there are only 4,000 petrol stations in Cambodia. Of those stations, only 700 have been approved by the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

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The funding round for ShopRunBack was led by Cambodia-based venture capital firm OMOR Capital. Other investors who also participated in the funding round include Singapore-based venture capital firm Negocia Ventures.

ShopRunBack, which is a reverse logistics company, operates in the Greater Mekong sub-region-which includes Cambodia, a part of China (specifically Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Logitech startup is focused on transforming the returns experience for both customers and merchants by utilising an international logistics network with a new generation of plug-and-play software.

With regard to the fresh funding, founder of ShopRunBack, Sophie Meas told the media, “Aside from this recently signed strategic agreement, this fundraising represents an important step in our development. First, it marks ShopRunBack’s entry into the Chinese market. Second, it demonstrates that we have put down roots in the region after the opening of our office in Phnom Penh. We hope to continue to bring our expertise here and be involved in the development of retail and ecommerce in Cambodia.”

ShopRunBack’s European portfolio includes retailers such as Etam and Mango. Recently, the startup also signed a strategic partnership with Shenzhen’s 4PX Express to propose the use of its reverse logistics platform to 4PX’s database that includes more than 300,000 merchants and to increase adoption of logistics and e-commerce best practices in the Mekong region.

ShopRunBack was established in 2014, and since then, it has also built its logistics network in Europe and the US.

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