Pung Kheav Se

Pung Kheav Se (; ) is a Cambodian businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Canadia Group, a multinational conglomerate which counts among its business entities OCIC and CIH. In addition, he founded Canadia Bank, one of Cambodia's oldest and largest commercial banks in terms of assets and net holding.

Early life Pung was born in the late 1940s and is a Cambodian of Teochew descent. With the country taken over by the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Pung fled to neighboring Thailand to seek refuge in a Thai refugee camp. After leaving the camp in 1980, Pung soon secured a job as a salesman and later became a goldsmith in Montreal, Canada where he would spend the next eleven years of his life until his return to Cambodia in the early 1990s.

Career

Early business career Pung started his career as a goldsmith operating from a small kiosk in a grocery shop in Montreal, Canada's Chinatown. Later on, his business would continue to expand and include other services such as remittances and money transfer services as more and more Overseas Cambodians from Canada began to remit money back to Cambodia.

Returning from Canada to Cambodia and founding Canadia Bank

In 1991, Pung returned to Cambodia, where he began offering financial services and issuance of gold coins with the establishment of the Canadia Gold & Trust Corporation, a joint venture between Pung and the National Bank of Cambodia which would later become Canadia Bank. In the years that followed, Pung served as a longtime Chairperson of the Association of Banks of Cambodia and has since been renowned as Cambodia's banking pioneer and foremost financial magnate.

Since its inception and privatization in 1998, Canadia Bank has grown into one of the largest commercial banks in the Kingdom with total assets amounting to US$7.6 billion with a net profit of US$129 million as of 2021.

Since 2020, Pung's OCIC and its affiliates has invested an estimated US$5 billion in numerous public and social infrastructure projects throughout Cambodia with more projects in works such as Norea City, the Kong Sam Ol Overpass, the Russey Keo Bridge and Russey Keo Flyover, the Koh Norea Bridge and more to come.

Philanthropy

In 2020 and 2021, Pung made significant contributions in support of Cambodia's fight against COVID-19 by donating a total of US$8 million in the purchase of vaccines, support of general activities and the expansion of health-related facilities.

Awards

In 2002, Pung was awarded the Mahaserey Vattanac Award by the His Majesty, the late Norodom Sihanouk, King-Father of Cambodia, and The Highest National Contribution Medal awarded by His Excellency, Prime Minister Hun Sen and presented by His Majesty, King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia in 2012.