PHNOM PENH -- Hong Kong Securities Institute (HKSI) announced on Thursday to provide technical supports and curriculums for training human resources for Cambodia towards the upcoming stock market.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Hong Kong Securities Institute and Financial Institute of Cambodia (FIC) on securities training cooperation was signed here on Thursday between HKSI's chief executive Sui Fun Wong and FIC's rector Sorn Sokna.

Through the agreement, HKSI would provide FIC with curriculums for training programs, send lecturers and experts from Hong Kong to lecture in the institute and accept Cambodian lecturers and students for courses in HKSI, said Sorn Sokna.

"In fact, HKSI has assisted our institute for more than one year already--about 300 students have been trained under the cooperation, but we just officially signed MoU today," he said. " They help us free of charge in order to build human resources for the upcoming bourse."

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"For securities sector, we think that only HKSI that has excellent experience and expertise in training human resources for bourse-that's why we chose it for cooperation," he added.

HKSI was officially formed in December 1997 as a professional body to raise the standards of securities and finance practitioners in Hong Kong.

Durin the signing ceremony, Anthony Y.T. Muh, HKSI's chairman, said that the MoU signified a concrete step forward in fostering closer cooperation between the two professional bodies.

"This has marked the beginning of a new phase to promote sharing of market experiences and best practices among the professionals from two sides," he said.

Cambodian Finance Minister Keat Chhon said at the signing ceremony that the cooperation between the two professional bodies is very crucial to build human resources for securities sector in Cambodia and to develop the upcoming stock market with transparency, accountability, safety, effectiveness, justice and investor protection.

Cambodian Securities Exchange is set to launch trading by July this year "at any cost" after twice delays.

Three state-owned enterprises have been preparing IPO (Initial Public Offerings) for listing as soon as CSX launches. They are Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Telecom Cambodia, and Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority.