Trading on the Cambodia Securities Exchange will be delayed once again until the beginning of 2012, Minister of Economy and Finance Keat Chhon said yesterday.

He blamed an incomplete regulatory regime and the public’s lack of confidence in the stock market as reasons for the delay, saying trading would most likely start early next year.

“It’s probably a little bit later than [the original] schedule. It will probably start trading from January,” Keat Chhon said, speaking to reporters after his speech at an International Business Chamber of Cambodia conference in Phnom Penh.

The stock exchange officially launched in July, though no companies were yet ready to list. Keat Chhon said at the time that stocks would begin trading by year’s end, before revising his outlook yesterday.

“We had been working conscientiously and still discussing some more rules and regulations to build a comprehensive rules and regulation for participants in the stock market,” he said.

“It can be in operation only if there is public confidence,” he added.

Keat Chhon also confirmed that three state-owned enterprises – Sihanoukville Autonomous Port, Telecom Cambodia and Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority – had been preparing for initial public offerings on the stock exchange.

Keat Chhon said another state-owned firm, Phnom Penh Autonomous Port, is also preparing a listing, as well as a number of private companies. However, he declined to name those private companies.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY REUTERS