Cambodia National Qualifier Selects Winning Candidate to Represent Kingdom at ASEAN ESG Challenge 2026
The Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and Sustainable Finance Institute Asia (SFIA) – with support from the Australian Government to Cambodia through the Cambodia Australia Partnership for Resilient Economic Development (CAPRED) – organised the Final Round of the "Cambodia National Qualifier: ASEAN Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Challenge 2026" on August 28 at the Himawari Hotel.
The event was presided over by H.E. Sou Socheat, Director General of the SERC; Eugene Wong, CEO of SFIA; and Chris Tiffin, ICAEW member based in Cambodia.
The Cambodian National Qualifier aimed to select one champion from six competing universities – including Royal University of Phnom Penh (RUPP), Royal University of Law and Economics (RULE), National University of Management (NUM), CamEd Business School, American University of Phnom Penh (AUPP) and ACLEDA University of Business (AUB) – to represent Cambodia at the ASEAN ESG Challenge 2026 in Manila, Philippines.
Speaking at the event, H.E. Sou Socheat said:
The judges here are scoring your presentation, but life will score your actions. Today, the Trophies go to the champion, but the real diploma – the one that matters for Cambodia's sustainable future – go to every single one of you who leaves this hall determined to apply what you have learned. You are not competing against each other; you are qualifying to help build a better Cambodia. Go forward and be champions of sustainability in your communities, regardless of the scoreboard.
“Creating awareness about the challenges our world is facing and planting the seeds to make the world a better place is an imperative,” added Eugene Wong. “The Cambodia ESG Challenge 2026 has opened the door for this to happen in Cambodia. I congratulate SERC for initiating this Challenge. Through this Challenge, candidates had the opportunity to learn about the role of ESG in the real world and to innovate in bringing to life ESG aligned solutions to everyday business decisions. I was very impressed by the performance of the candidates. They understood that every decision can make a difference.”
Chris Tiffin further highlighted, “ICAEW is proud to support the ASEAN ESG Challenge 2026 — Cambodia, which equips emerging business and finance leaders to apply rigorous professional judgement to real-world sustainability decisions. As sustainable finance continues to develop across the region, strong standards, integrity, and transparent reporting will be essential to building lasting trust among investors, businesses, and communities.”
The event was attended by management and officials from the SERC, representatives of judges from the SERC, Cambodia Securities Exchange, CAPRED, ICAEW, SFIA, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Prudential (Cambodia) Life Assurance Plc, mentors of the six candidates, securities firms, listed companies, universities and members of the press, as well as the high level managements and candidates from the six universities, and expert speakers with extensive experience in ESG from ADB, with a total of 160 attendees.
The 1st Champion of the Cambodia ESG Challenge was CamEd Business School, followed by American University of Phnom Penh as the 2nd Champion, and Royal University of Phnom Penh as the 3rd Champion. CamEd Business School will represent Cambodia in the ASEAN ESG Challenge 2026, which will be held on October 22, 2026 in Manila, Philippines.
This press release was supplied.
