1. Background
1.1 About CAPRED
The CAPRED Facility is Australia's flagship bilateral economic development program in Cambodia, focusing on economic recovery and resilience until 2027, with a possible three-year extension. The Facility supports Cambodia in implementing a range of important economic reforms to support the country's economic transition. These interventions and reforms aim to encourage more productive and inclusive public and private investment, promoting a resilient, inclusive, and sustainable economy (RISE).
CAPRED interventions fall under three technical components including Agriculture and Agro-processing; Trade, Investment and Enterprise Development and Infrastructure Development; and three Cross-Cutting components: Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion (GEDSI); Climate Resilient initiatives, and policy support.
1.2 About the Support on Issuance of Infrastructure Project Bond
Cambodia's LDC graduation, aimed for 2029, will reduce its ability to access concessional finance. Continuous development and improvement in regulations and market functions, along with successful issuances of different types of securities, have enabled Cambodia's capital market to become a platform ready for raising capital much needed for continued development. It is a place where the private sector can access large-scale and long-term financing suitable for infrastructure projects.
Despite the readiness and rapid growth in bond issuance, the market's breadth and depth remain limited with a small number of issuances per year and an inactive secondary market. Lack of awareness among potential issuers of the financing opportunity and issuance process, limited experience and network of key market actors, and high upfront issuance costs compared to bank financing are limiting Cambodia from seeing a higher number of successful issuances and market deepening, despite the potentials and market demand.
4. Selection process
The submitted applications will be reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, starting one week after this announcement is posted. Applications meeting all eligibility requirements in Section 3 will be proceeded to internal review in which CAPRED will:
- Review the accuracy of the submitted application and documents. CAPRED reserves the right to contact relevant stakeholders to verify reported information, including the lead manager or underwriter, bond guarantor, or relevant entities.
- Applications meeting the eligibility criteria will be proceeded to CAPRED's internal due diligence check and environmental and social management system (ESMS) assessment
Applications meeting all requirements and passing all checks will be awarded a grant agreement through which the grant will be disbursed in increments and after the completion of milestones required for bond issuance. CAPRED aims to support up to five infrastructure project bond issuances. The support for an issuer is considered locked in once the grant agreement is signed between CAPRED and the issuer.
CAPRED will consider its support fully allocated after receiving five applications meeting the eligibility requirements in Section 3. However, should any application fail to reach a grant agreement, CAPRED will proceed to review the next application submitted later.
5. How to Apply
Interested bond issuers are invited to submit the application form in Annex 1 to CAPRED's Procurement through the email address. CAPRED will review the submitted applications on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications will be assessed on an ongoing basis and will remain open until CAPRED reaches its transaction ceiling limit.
To request further information or if you have any questions on this call for applications, please contact Ms. Chandaly SENG via email.
For application submission, please send to the email provided in the contact details with “CFA25-0053- Increase of Infrastructure Bond Issuance - Enquiry” in the subject line.
