NATIONAL BANK OF CAMBODIA PLANS MONEY MUSEUM

In January, officials broke ground on the new $4 million headquarters for the Cambodia Securities Exchange. Situated along a northern stretch of Freedom Park, a short skip from Wat Phnom, the French colonial-era building is a suitable home for the two-year-old bourse, which now operates out of Canadia Tower. The site, expected to open in early 2014, used to house the Ministry of Economy and Finance.

The CSX building heralds a future of prosperity. But just next door, in a two-storey structure dating back to the 1920s, Cambodia’s first museum of money is a nod to the economic past.

Commissioned by the National Bank of Cambodia, the monetary-themed history exhibit is slated to open in 2015.

“The NBC wishes to have a museum for the benefit of the nation; especially for the benefit of young people to learn and understand the history of money and the role of the central bank,” said Nguon Sokha, director-general of the NBC. “Many central banks in the world have such kind of museums.”

Visitors will learn about the development of the riel and should be able to view currency displays from different eras of Cambodian life.

“We want [the museum] to keep old documents and show people our history of coins and bills,” said an accountant from the central bank, who declined to be named since he was not authorised to speak to the media about the project.

He said the NBC is fully funding the two-storey museum, but would not disclose the figure.

The bank employee of 25 years added that, while US dollars are commonly used in Cambodia, they won’t have a place in the exhibit. American banknotes have been the Kingdom’s default currency since the UN peacekeeping operation in 1993 pumped them into the economy, sidelining the Cambodian riel that first came on the scene after independence from France in 1953.

To read the complete article, see: Museum for money planned (www.phnompenhpost.com/business/museum-money-planned)

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