B2B Cambodia's Riel Movers offers in-depth video interviews with influential leaders who inspire, impact, innovative, and create positive change in the Kingdom's business community.
The show's second guest is Ngorn Saing, CEO and Country Manager of RMA Group Company Ltd. in Cambodia.
Together with our host, Anthony Galliano, Saing discusses RMA's company evolution, its status as a real 'mover' in Cambodia's business community, as well as the vast and rapid development of industry in Cambodia overall.
RMA Cambodia's History And Background
RMA's history in the country spans over three decades, first entering Cambodia in 1992 and beginning as a provider of goods to commercial and aid development enterprises in the infrastructure, energy, and logistics sectors.
“The group itself went along with the movement of the United Nations at that time, so when the United Nations came here to Cambodia as UNTAC, this business was started to serve that UN movement,” shared Saing.
Over time, the business saw continued opportunity for growth in the infrastructure and construction sectors, and has since expanded and become most well-known for its presence in the automotive industry, agriculture and heavy equipment, food and beverage, and more.
“Today we have over 4,000 people employed by us… and our turnover is over USD 500 million,” he added.
Saing explained that RMA Cambodia's broad business profile includes:
- Automotive – Brands like Ford, Range Rover, Changan, Jaguar, Fuso trucks.
- Agricultural equipment – John Deere tractors and harvesters.
- Construction – RMA has a Fuso dealership, JCB cement machines and Ajax machines from India, and also sells construction materials. The company is also involved in construction monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
- Rental business – RMA has the franchise for Avis Budget Group, the largest rental business in Cambodia for cars and other equipment.
- Food and beverage (F&B) – leading franchises like Pizza Company, Dairy Queen, Krispy Kreme and more.
- Hospitality – RMA has recently moved into the hotel business and owns the FCC Angkor Siem Reap.
Leading American Investment In Cambodia And Investing In Higher-Skilled Labour
RMA Cambodia is one of the largest American companies in the country, and one of the primary examples of American investment in the Kingdom.
“If we're talking about American businesses in the country, there are probably not many, we are one of the biggest ones, probably along with Coca Cola," commented Saing.
Recently, in the last two years, everyone knows that we invested over USD 20 million for the Ford assembly plant in Pursat. A lot questioned why we did this in Pursat because it's like [in the middle of] nowhere, but we thought differently. First, it is a strategic location in the middle of the country. Second, we don't want to only grow in the capital city, we also want to grow in the rural areas even if we face some difficulties regarding staff, location, or transportation. But we decided on this, I think, in terms of moving to a new area to help the community grow.
In addition to job creation, RMA Cambodia's investment in the Ford assembly plant also helps to generate higher-skilled labour in the country, which is particularly important in the current context of supply chains in Asia continuing to shift away from China to ASEAN countries.
“Despite all challenge, we do try to upgrade our staff knowledge, both internally here in Cambodia, as well as by sending them outside the country. We have also helped to make other business think about Cambodia. Following our investment [in the assembly plant], we have received many inquiries from other businesses saying they want to come along with us,” shared Saing.
A Positive Working Environment – How Does RMA Cambodia Retain Its Long-Term Staff?
Saing himself has been with RMA Cambodia since 1998, making 2024 his 26th anniversary at the company. He believes the reason why RMA was able to keep him for so long, as well as retain its present day staff, is due to a friendly working environment that also focuses on career building.
“To be honest, we've built a very friendly working environment, like a family," he said. “And also we try to grow our staff's career paths, so we focus on growing the people.”
We don't just employ people for the company's benefit, we want to make sure that our staff can perform the work and gain experience. We say that even if the staff want to go out [from the company] and work [elsewhere], they can do it. And I think… in the market here in Cambodia, if an office is recruiting staff, and they know that someone worked for RMA in the past, I believe 100 per cent that they will [be accepted] because of the way that we treat the people, the way that we lead them, the way that we help them grow and [give them] training.
A First Mover And Early Starter In Cambodia's Bond Market
In April 2020, RMA Cambodia listed a KHR 80 billion bond (around USD 20 million) with a 5.5 per cent coupon on the Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX), making them one of the first companies in the country to list a corporate bond.
Explaining why RMA chose to list over going deeper into the bank market, Saing said:
“We wanted, first, to help the Cambodian financial market, as we want the sector to grow. Secondly, we wanted our company to deliver and to be a listed company… [as listing] would help our financial market security to make sure that we have in place all [important] structural policies, that's what we thought about.”
Saing also commented on what he believes might be holding back other companies from listing and getting involved in the capital markets.
“The first thing is compliance, so [for many companies] their main constraint is their own compliance, so lots of things need to be done internally [to fix their compliance standards], meaning such companies cannot fulfill [this requirement to list]," he said.
In order to improve this situation, I think the government, especially the Ministry of Economy and Finance or the SERC (Securities and Exchange Regulator), need to be thinking about harmonising the systems used for business and tax. For example, accounting standards, they exist, but we need to do the same thing [with harmonisation]. Also regarding policy – some have been mentioned by the SERC, but when you go to the tax department, they don't have that policy in place yet.
A second setback Saing sees many businesses face concerns the fact that listing bonds or stocks requires a guarantee from, for example, the Asian Development Bank's (ADB's) Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility (CGIF). He said that many companies cannot meet the high standards needed to qualify for bond guarantee, so he believes the government could look into establishing their own guarantee entity, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Another problem… is that there are a lot of [listing] expenses… It's not cheap, so the cost of listing has to go down as well. It would be easier, if, let's say, for us to go to the bank, as it could be cheaper than [listing a] bond, but we didn't do that. So what I mean is the government or any involved institutes have to look at the cost of monitoring as well.
Looking Forward To The Future Of Cambodia
Sharing his future outlook on Cambodia, especially in light of the new government mandate established in 2023, Saing had positive things to say.
“The policies of the government and what [Prime Minister Hun Manet] has commited to do for the country is quite hopeful, so we are quite happy with this,” said Saing. “His leadership is quite sharp, quite good, and I can see that he is focused on how to solve problems, rather than just find problems from the past. He is looking at what should be done for things to be better.”
“Personally, I do believe the new government and new leadership of the Prime Minister can bring Cambodia to the next level, bring business in Cambodia to the next level, and probably open the market more and attract more investors to come into the country,” he concluded.