ABOUT US | Chairman's Message
In the current situation, we can see that the World Economy in 2023 has growled less than expected from the previous year after going through a series of obstacles of the COVID crisis, continued to increasing interest rates to reduce inflation, the contraction of fiscal political space, increased risks of geopolitical divisions, real estate crises, and weak domestic demand that has burdened global trade, consumption, and investment. According to the International Monetary Fund, the global economic growth for 2023 is expected to reach 3%, of which developing countries will grow by 1.5%, emerging and developing countries by 4% and ASEAN economies by 4.4%. And according to the annual report 2023 by the National Bank of Cambodia, the global economic crisis has also put pressure on Cambodia's economy, especially garment exports and growth in the construction and real estate sectors. However, the recovery of the tourism sector, the growth of non-garment exports and the growth of domestic demand have contributed to supporting the Cambodian economy to grow at a rate of 5.5% in 2023, higher than in 2022 (5.3 %). This is expected to increase investment in infrastructure and the benefits of regional trade agreements of the World Bank in mid-2023. The achievement of this growth is due to the indispensable support for political stability, which is the foundation of trust and sustainable development, which the new government has put in place to implement the first phase of the Pentagon strategy, which has clear goals and objectives with long-term vision for economic and social development, focusing on the five key priorities: people, roads, water, electricity and technology.
On Cambodia's banking and microfinance sectors remains strong confindentaility during the 2023 election year and the banking system in some countries being hit by the collapse of commercial banks. And in each region or country, there may be an increase in debt and credit risk on the real estate sector. The slowdown in credit growth, coupled with the completion of restructuring during the Covid crisis, has led to an increase in non-performing loans, which requires banks and financial institutions to continue to increase monitoring, evaluation and statistics on potential risks. At the end of 2023, the total assets of banking and financial institutions increased by 8.6% to 346.7 trillion riels (equivalent to 84.3 billion US dollars), of which the banking sector accounted for 91.8%, microfinance sector accounted for 7.6%, and the financial leasing sector for 0.6%, with a total of 18.9 million customer deposit accounts and 3.9 million consumer loan accounts. According to the annual report 2023 of the National Bank of Cambodia, there are 58 Commercial Banks, 9 Specialized Banks, 4 Deposit-taking Microfinance Institutions, 83 Microfinance Institutions, 114 Rural Credit Institutions, and 16 Leasing Institutions, 6 Third Party Processors, 33 Payment Service Providers, 1 Credit Bureau Cambodia, 5 Foreign Banks representative office, and 2,915 Money Changers. At this point, we can see that although the impact of the crisis, the banking and microfinance system remains stable and resilient, with continued investment from both local and foreign investors in the sector in Cambodia that the microfinance sector in Cambodia has been playing an important role in contributing to the promotion of sustainable finance, participation in environmental protection and the development of green economy and society, especially the reduction of rural poverty.
Due to the impact of the global COVID pandemic and prolonged the Russia-Ukraine war, which has had some impact on the banking and financial sector, FUTABA Microfinance Plc, still strongly new created a branch as Krong Doun Kaev Branch in Takeo Province, which received permission and license from the National Bank of Cambodia on February 07th, 2023 according to its long-term strategy plan, and at the end of 2023, FUTABA Microfinance Plc, also changed its structure at the management level by appointing a new Chief Executive Officer as Cambodian, to continue to lead, manage and implement the work more effectively. Despite this difficult situation, in 2023, FUTABA Microfinance Plc., was still able to maintain our profit of 260,464 US dollars with its total assets of 15,580,862 US dollars. This result shows the commitment and cooperation of managements, all staffs, and especially the credit team, which has made efforts to manage and resolve customer late in a timely manner.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank to our customers and our Japanese Shareholder, Chief Executive Officer, Assistant Chief Executive Officers, and all staffs of FUTABA Microfinance Plc., for much contribution, work hard, and support to implement and achieve of business strategic of the Company. Especially, thank to NBC and corporate partners for always providing support and coordination with our MFI in managing all activities with transparency up to now and in the future.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank to our customers and our Japanese Shareholder for their continued commitment to using the FUTABA's services and products to contribute to the development of the next generation of business and human resources, as well as to the Chief Executive Officer, Deputy CEO and all staffs of FUTABA Microfinance Plc., for much contribution, work hard, and support to implement and achieve of business strategic of the institution. In particular, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the National Bank of Cambodia and its partners for their continued cooperation, support and recommendations to our institution to manage all activities in a transparent and efficient manner up to now and in the future.
At the end, we would like to blessing you and your family have good luck, good healthy with happiness, wisdom, and successful all the businesses forever.