Credit Bureau Cambodia and Cambodia Microfinance Association host empowering Breakfast Talk to Celebrate International Women’s Day

Phnom Penh, 9 March 2022, Credit Bureau Cambodia Co., Ltd (CBC) together with Cambodia Microfinance Association (CMA) organized an insightful and empowering Breakfast Talk bringing together more than 160 participants from the financial and business sectors to share inspiring stories of 4 successful women leaders from finance and technology in Cambodia.

Data compiled by CBC indicates that women’s leadership in finance and technology sectors are relatively low at approximately 20% for financial sector and 27% for technological sector but increasing over the years, thereby, breaking the bias. With more than 57% of employees in the company being female, CBC encourages women to take on challenging roles and commits to promote gender equality. 40% of CBC’s management team comprises of women. A culture of diverse workforce enables us to innovate product and services to meet the fast evolving demand of the market. As a key financial infrastructure and ecosystem enabler, CBC is consistently moving towards the common goal and vision among our colleagues to empower women in leadership roles.

Four women leaders who joined panel discussion sharing their experiences on leading with balance were H.E. Dith Nita, CEO, Camma Microfinance Limited and Vice-Chairwoman of Cambodia Microfinance Association, H.E. Chea Ratha, CEO, Khmum Technology, H.E. Lay Rachana, Senior Vice-President and Head of Retail Banking, Chip Mong Commercial Bank and Ms. Pon Pagnavattey, Head of Data Analytics, CBC. Ms. Ly Sopheak, Head of Distribution Training, FWD Life Insurance (Cambodia) Plc moderated the engaging and insightful discussions.

Panelists highlighted that with women moving into leadership roles in technology, it important to promote more gender equality and break the bias of gender in this field starting with how parents raise their daughters without imposing in barriers than for sons. The discussions also brought forth that family responsibilities should not be a barrier for women in aspiring for professional growth. Women business leaders also emphasized that family and life partners play an important supporting role to enable women to thrive and fully explore their professional path.

In this era of fourth industrial revolution with fast-paced evolution of technology, people require specialized skills to meet the needs of the market and be competitive to tackle the world’s problems. It is very exciting to see women taking on the challenge and breaking the stereotypes around women in finance and tech. This will mark a great milestone and open more doors to all women across Cambodia to be brave and step into a new era of this evolution.

Moreover, the ongoing advancement in digital financial services can lead to greater financial inclusion for women through the cost reduction in access to finance accompanied by enhancements in privacy and control. Currently, women comprise 53% of borrowers who have taken loans for small businesses, personal finance as well as social purposes. Further promoting financial inclusion for women and implementing strategies for women to apply for leadership are still an important factor to empower women.

This event expresses the commitment of CBC to promote financial inclusion and gender strategy in credit markets. In December 2021, CBC announced its commitment of USD 1 million toward strengthening financial inclusion in the kingdom in line with the priorities of the National Bank of Cambodia. Earlier in February 2022, CBC and RUPP also signed an MoU to promote financial inclusion by creating a synergy across the Cambodian financial sector.