via CAAI News Media
By Prak Chan Thul
PHNOM PENH, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday three state firms could be among the first to list on Cambodia's new stock market, although an official involved in the project said it may not be ready until the end of the year.
"Our Cambodia is creating a stock market, its headquarters are almost finished," Hun Sen told more than 1,000 accountancy graduates in Phnom Penh.
"So, in a short time, we will have a stock market, and some state firms and private enterprises will get listed there."
Hun Sen mentioned three candidates for a listing -- Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority and Electricite du Cambodge, the state power company.
The finance ministry has previously suggested the port operator, the water utility and Telecom Cambodia, the national phone company, could seek a listing.
The exchange will be in a new financial district being built by South Korean-backed World City on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, the capital of the Southeast Asian country.
It was supposed to open in September 2009. When that date passed, government officials mentioned January or February as a possible start date for trading, even if the headquarters wasn't fully ready by then.
Ming Bankosal, director general of the Securities Exchange Commission of Cambodia, told Reuters on Wednesday the bourse would probably be up and running at the end of this year, adding that some regulatory laws had already been drawn up.
"We planned to operate at the end of 2009 but the situation was not fruitful. The economic crisis also affected us," Ming Bankosal said.
"We would rather be late than have it one or two years and then it collapses," he said.
"We plan to open it at the end of the year but that will depend on whether companies are ready," he said, adding Cambodian firms would need to be more transparent.
Ming Bankosal said some private companies had expressed an interest in listing shares, but he declined to name them. Financial companies have until March 1 to submit applications to operate as underwriters, brokers, dealers and investment advisers. (For a feature on the stock market, click [ID:nBKK492057]) (Reporting by Prak Chan Thul; Editing by Alan Raybould) (prak.chanthul@thomsonreuters.com; +855 2 399 2102; Reuters Messaging: prak.chanthul.reuters.com@reuters.net))
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