Chea Serey

Chea Serey
Born	(1981-04-25) April 25, 1981 Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Occupation(s)	Economist, central banker
Years active	2002–present
Known for	First female Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia; Chairperson of Credit Bureau Cambodia Ltd.; Chair of Clearing House Operation Committee; leadership in digital payment systems including Bakong blockchain project

Chea Serey ( ; born 25 April 1981) is a Cambodian economist who became the first woman to hold the position of Governor (អគ្គទេសាភិបាល) at the National Bank of Cambodia in July 2023. Prior to this, she occupied the role of Deputy Governor (ទេសាភិបាលរង), a position comparable to that of a minister within the Cambodian government.

In addition, Serey served as Chairperson of Credit Bureau Cambodia Ltd., which represents the nation’s inaugural private credit information sharing platform. She also led the Cambodian Economic Association, an organization dedicated to advancing policy grounded in empirical research through professional networks and roundtable dialogues. Her involvement extends to numerous policy-making bodies at both the central bank and national government levels.

During her tenure, Cambodia’s retail payment systems underwent significant modernization, including the implementation of the Cambodian Shared Switch (CSS) for card payment processing and the FAST system enabling instantaneous interbank transfers. As Chair of the Clearing House Operation Committee, she was instrumental in launching the Bakong Project, a pioneering initiative utilizing blockchain technology for payment services.

A committed proponent of women’s financial empowerment and inclusion, Serey holds memberships on the Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion Committee under the Alliance for Financial Inclusion and on the Southeast Asia Advisory Council of Women’s World Banking. She was also recognized as part of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders cohort in 2019.

Education

Born in Phnom Penh in 1981 to parents who endured the Khmer Rouge era, Chea Serey attended Baktouk Primary School until sixth grade. She then pursued secondary education in France before relocating with her family to Singapore, where she completed high school at the French International School. In 1999, she earned a commerce degree specializing in accounting and finance from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. Later, in 2021, she obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from Australia’s University of Adelaide. Her doctoral research focused on financial development and inclusion within ASEAN’s least developed countries, emphasizing Cambodia’s contribution to poverty alleviation and economic growth through regional financial integration.

Professional Experience

After the National Bank of Cambodia undertook measures to liquidate banks lacking sufficient capital in 2000, Chea Serey joined its banking supervision division in 2002 and progressed steadily through its ranks. By 2018, as Director General, she spearheaded regulatory reforms targeting microfinance institutions—an essential sector for Cambodia’s economic resurgence—leading to the shutdown of fifty rural credit providers due to regulatory breaches within half a year.

In 2019, she responded to allegations made by LICADHO accusing the central bank of overlooking exploitative lending practices within microfinance. She rejected these claims as ideologically driven attempts aimed at undermining Cambodia’s credit market stability.

Her reform initiatives gained international acclaim when, in 2020, she was appointed to the Bank for International Settlements’ advisory panel for the G20 TechSprint project. Following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on Cambodia’s banking industry, she expressed optimism about a rapid recovery facilitated by collaborations between public entities and private enterprises.

Digital Leapfrogging in Cambodia

Chea Serey has been instrumental in advancing the digital transformation of Cambodia’s economy. In 2017, she introduced the National Bank of Cambodia Platform, designed to replace obsolete systems that had made transactions expensive due to cumbersome paperwork and operational delays. Under her guidance, the retail payment infrastructure was upgraded, notably through the rollout of QR code-enabled electronic payment methods. This overhaul reduced transaction expenses and broadened digital accessibility, helping Cambodia achieve some of the lowest internet costs in ASEAN by 2018.

Expansion of Cambodia’s Banking Sector

During her tenure as director of the Central Bank of Cambodia, Chea Serey has led efforts to rebuild and grow the nation’s banking industry, which suffered severe setbacks during the Khmer Rouge period. At the start of her leadership, Cambodia had only 16 banks; this number has since increased to 38, including seven specialized institutions and 32 commercial banks. While she supports blockchain technology for securing digital currency transactions, she remains prudent regarding cryptocurrencies. The National Bank of Cambodia developed its own blockchain platform but prohibited initial coin offerings and issued warnings about cryptocurrencies, cautioning that certain fintech innovations might be fraudulent.

Transition from Dollar Dependence to Bakong Blockchain Payments

Chea Serey attributes Cambodia’s dollarization largely to its post-conflict recovery phase and the UNTAC era. In December 2016, the National Bank of Cambodia instructed commercial banks and microfinance entities to boost lending in the local currency to promote the riel. By mid-2017, she authored Cambodia’s inaugural national strategy aimed at strengthening the riel’s use. To lessen reliance on the US dollar, she also advocated for expanding trade settlements using the Chinese yuan with China and pursued similar initiatives with ASEAN partners such as Thailand and Vietnam, all while continuing to support the riel’s adoption.

She views blockchain as a means to build greater trust in government-managed banking systems. Bakong, Cambodia’s blockchain-based payment network, functions as a foundational payment infrastructure rather than a central bank digital currency. By March 2022, approximately 270,000 Cambodians were using Bakong daily, with its services reaching nearly half of the country’s 16.7 million population. By the close of 2021, the National Bank of Cambodia had recorded 6.8 million transactions through Bakong, totaling around $2.9 billion.

Royal Honors

In 2018, Chea Serey was awarded the Grand Order of National Merit (មេដាយជាតូបការ) by King Norodom Sihamoni. The medal was officially bestowed upon her by Samdach Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet on May 10, 2023, in recognition of her substantial contributions to the nation.

Professional Distinctions

As Director General of Central Banking at the National Bank of Cambodia in 2017, Chea Serey was honored as one of Asia Society’s 21 Young Leaders for her exemplary public service and influence.

She was also named a Young Societal Leader at the 2018 Singapore Summit.

In 2019, she was included in the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders Class of 2019 for her role as an emerging decision-maker fostering positive transformation.

In 2020, she received the Future of Payment Award from both the Budapest Institute of Banking and CFTE in recognition of her efforts advancing digital banking and financial innovation in Cambodia.

In 2021, Chea Serey earned the Nikkei Asia Prize for promoting financial inclusion through the Bakong digital currency system launched in 2020.

Additional Recognitions

In 2018, she was honored by the Asia Philanthropy Circle as one of the 25 Most Influential Philanthropists in the ASEAN region. Later, in 2021, LA Weekly acknowledged her as a "Philanthropy Hero" for her role in co-founding the Raska Koma Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving healthcare and social support for disadvantaged children in Cambodia.