AsiaLIFE

AsiaLIFE: What made you decide to come to Cambodia?

Stephen Higgins: I have been in Cambodia since May this year. The opportunity here work-wise was too good to refuse, with ANZ Royal Bank being ANZ's biggest retail operation outside of Australia and New Zealand. The big bonus has been finding out what a great place Cambodia is to live.

What experience do you have with ANZ? 

I've been with ANZ for about 15 years, with that time spent in various roles including Corporate Banking, Leasing, Sales & Marketing, and Investor Relations.

What is your initial impression of the business environment in Cambodia at the moment? 

The environment here is actually a lot more pro-business than I expected, and a lot more so than for other countries in the region. However, there needs to be a lot more investment in infrastructure and in human resource development.

How do you see the banking sector developing over the next few years?

It should remain fairly competitive, but I think you can expect some consolidation and generally fewer banks prior to 2010 when the NBC's new minimum capital rules come into effect.

What are ANZ's plans for 2009? What new features should customers experience? 

My biggest focus will be on really trying to make ANZ Royal Bank "easy to do business with" for our customers. Customers feel we are the strongest and safest bank here, with international standards, but we don't always make it as easy for customers as I would like. In terms of new features etc, watch this space!

ANZ Royal has been one of the leaders in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in Cambodia, why is that so?

Both of our shareholders are committed to be active participants in the communities in which we operate. On top of that, our customers want to put their money with a bank that supports Cambodia, our staff want to work for a company that makes a real contribution to Cambodia, so it's not really a hard decision.

Do you feel that more companies should follow your lead and commit greater resources to CSR?

We aren't the only company committing resources to CSR in Cambodia, and I think it is really encouraging to see how much is done here in Cambodia. I would advise any company to invest in CSR, but they also need to do it in a way that is right for them. For example, we have a big focus now on education, because our business is heavily reliant on people capital. Obviously for a miner, they might be more focused on the environment.

What measures would you like see taken to improve the banking sector in the Kingdom?

I think the banking sector is in pretty good shape, and the regulator, the NBC, is doing a very good job. We do a lot of market research, and one of the interesting things to come out of that, is how much the trust that the community has in the NBC has grown over the last three years. The biggest change that was needed was to increase the minimum capital requirements, and they've just done that.

On a darker side, how do you see the global downturn affecting investment in Cambodia?

In most other countries, it has been the banking sector that has been impacted first, which has then flowed through to the real economy. In Cambodia though, the banking system is fairly well insulated from the rest of the world, and the first impacts are likely to be felt directly by the real economy. A global recession is almost certain, and this is bound to impact sectors like tourism and garments.

We are also seeing some significant impacts in countries that have been investing a lot in Cambodia, such as South Korea, and that is likely to flow through here, particularly into the property market.

CV
Stephen Higgins
Company: ANZ Royal Bank
Position: Chief Executive Officer
Nationality: Australian
Qualifications: Bachelor of Economics, Master of Applied Finance, MBA