When There Was No Money: Building ACLEDA Bank in Cambodia's Evolving Financial Sector

The challenges in development often seem insurmountable. They overwhelm - tions and the builders of their most basic institutions. I am often asked how dev- opment finance agencies can work together to meet this challenge. In reply I invite you to read a story about cooperation in re-building one of the most basic insti- tions of any society -- the banking system. KfW Bankengruppe places great emphasis on financial sector development. Our experience in our own country, and beyond our borders, shows that one of the first steps is building a banking system that fuels growth through investment in enterprises. Micro, small and medium enterprises are the backbone of many economies; they are also the wealth of the people and generate their hope in the future. We believe that the depth of the financial sector is related to economic growth; the growth and safety of deposits, the facility of payments, and the in- vation to develop new products and services that strengthen markets and promote investment. A strong banking system supports economic growth by attracting unproductive capital and injecting it into the economy, increasing the productivity of the country's capital base and leveraging it by attracting outside capital.