PHNOM PENH, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian and Thai central banks on Sunday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation in QR-code based payment scheme and financial innovation, said a National Bank of Cambodia (NBC)'s statement.
The MoU was inked by NBC's Governor Chea Chanto and Bank of Thailand's Governor Veerathai Santiprabhob in Phnom Penh during an annual bilateral meeting.
"The MoU aims to support the collaboration on developing interoperability of standard QR code for efficient and secured domestic and cross-border payment transactions as well as to promote usage of local currencies and financial innovation in both countries," the statement said.
"In this regard, the pilot project on developing standard QR code payment has been agreed to facilitate retail payment services in Cambodia and between the two countries," it said.
The two neighboring countries' central banks have worked together since July to develop a QR code payment app in order to allow citizens of one country to shop in the other using their own currency.
NBC's Director General Chea Serey said in August that with the app, Cambodians will be able to use riel to purchase goods in Thailand, while Thais travelling in Cambodia will be able to pay in baht.
She said users of the QR code payment system will be required to have a bank account in the local currency and that the two countries hope to launch the system in mid-2019.
Cambodian government figures showed that there are currently more than 1 million Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, as over 317,000 Thais visited Cambodia in the first 11 months of 2018.
