THE architectural design for the Cambodian stock exchange will be finalised in November, a Ministry of Economy and Finance official said Wednesday.

World City Co Ltd of South Korea told the Post last week that designs had been rejected by the ministry after they were deemed not sufficiently Khmer.

Mey Vann, director of financial industry at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, said Wednesday that the government is looking for a design that represents Khmer culture and international business.

"This is history for our country to build a stock market in Cambodia," he said.

The final design will be ready to start construction on schedule at the end of the rainy season, he added.

Duk-kon Kim, vice president of World City, agreed Wednesday that, overall, the US$6 million project remains on schedule.

"We have already discussed all this and we planned to begin construction ... by the end of the rainy season this year," he said, adding that he did not know when architectural plans would be completed.

"I think that the stock exchange will open on schedule; we just follow the government's comments [on this]," he said.

Kim previously told the Post that it would take eight months to complete construction and a further three months to test electronic equipment at the site at Camko City - on the outskirts of Phnom Penh - before the four-storey exchange building would be ready to go online.