The Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) signed a partnership agreement with a business development company on Monday in an attempt to increase awareness about the country’s stock market among entrepreneurs.

CSX inked the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Successco, an organisation founded late last year that provides training to new businesses and has about 50 members.

Hong Sok Hour, CEO of the stock exchange, hailed the deal as an opportunity to expand financing options for the Kingdom’s small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs).

“In Cambodia, there are a lot of people who have launched good businesses and have good business ideas, but they are unable to grow to the full potential due to a lack of financial strategies,” he said. “We hope that this cooperation will provide a major contribution to boost further growth of Cambodian entrepreneurs.”

The agreement is the first of its kind for the CSX, and the exchange has plans to sign another MoU with CEO Master Club, a company that provides business coaching and networking to managers and owners of small-scale companies.

The CSX has struggled to attract listings, particularly from SMEs. In late 2015, it created the Growth Board, which sought to attract SME listings by lowering listing capital requirement and reducing the audited financial statement requirements. The move has yet to attract a single company.