First SME Seminar in Kota Kinabalu Organized by The Association Of Banks, An Encouraging Success
KOTA KINABALU, FRIDAY OCTOBER 22ND 2010 :- The first-ever SME Seminar organized by The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), together with Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), SME Corporation Malaysia and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGC) on Friday, was a resounding success with more than 300 participants taking part.
Held at the Suria Sabah Mall, Kota Kinabalu, there was warm response from the attendees, representing the various businesses and industries located in and around town as well as all the commercial banks with presence in Kota Kinabalu, namely Affin Bank Bhd, Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd, AmBank (M) Bhd, CIMB Bank Bhd, EON Bank Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, Malayan Banking Berhad, OCBC Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd and United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd.
Running concurrently with two half-day sessions of important trade talks to educate businesses, there were also booths set up by member banks whereby businesses obtained on the spot advice and guidance from the financial institutions on all commercial matters.
The SME Seminar was part of the line-up of events in conjunction with Minggu Kesedaran Kewangan (M2K) jointly hosted by BNM, Financial Mediation Bureau, Persatuan Insuran Deposit Malaysia and Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit (AKPK) and is aimed at strengthening relationships between commercial banks and businesses, mainly small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
ABM Executive Director, Chuah Mei Lin, said the SME Seminar took the format of the first Financing Fair themed “Majlis Beramah Mesra Bank dan Perusahaan Kecil dan Sederhana” held in Batu Pahat, Johor last year because it is the industry’s intention to reach out more effectively to major population and industrial centres outside key urban areas in the Peninsular and we are absolutely thrilled to be here in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
Chuah represented Maybank President and Chief Executive Officer Dato’ Sri Abdul Wahid Omar who is the Chairman of ABM.
“The SME Seminar is an important milestone in the banking sector. We are pleased with the response from the local community and since this is our debut event, I am confident the organizers will be able to hold even more impactful SME Financing Fairs or Seminars in the future,” she said.
Chuah also added that the SME Seminar is also meant to create awareness amongst the public that commercial banks continue to be responsive and responsible towards customer needs and that commercial banks continue to aggressively support SME activities despite challenging economic conditions.
Some of the major business organizations in the region were represented – Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Dewan Perniagaan Melayu Malaysia Sabah, Persatuan Pedagang dan Pengusaha Melayu Malaysia (PERDASAMA) Sabah, Dewan Perniagaan Bumiputera Sabah, Persatuan Kontraktor Melayu Malaysia Negeri Sabah, Persatuan Pengimpot & Peniaga Kenderaan Melayu Malaysia Sabah (PEKEMA), Federation of Sabah Manufacturers, Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers Sabah, Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Sabah Housing and Real Estate Developer Association, Sabah Timber Industries Association and Timber Association of Sabah.
Businesses from the surrounding vicinity which attended the one-day SME Seminar also benefited from many key trade talks given by experts from various commercial banks and development finance institutions.
The talks given in Bahasa Malaysia, English and Mandarin covered a wide range of important subject matters vital to SMEs such as loan processing, SME financial assistance, effective cash flow management, micro-financing as well as guarantee schemes provided by CGC.
On a related matter, ABM and BNM also held a special dialogue session with the business organizations mentioned above yesterday.
SMEs and business organizations with enquiries on commercial banking related issues may obtain more information from ABM’s website, www.abm.org.my or contact ABM’s toll-free hotline ABMConnect at 1-300-88-9980 from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm, Mondays to Fridays.
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