From the ED’s Desk : Taking Stock at the Half Way Mark

Every year, the cog-wheels of working life seem to turn a little faster. In a twinkle of the eye, we are already at the half way mark of the year!

June is traditionally a time for Annual Reports and Annual General Meetings which presents an opportunity for one to pause and look back at events the year before in a new perspective. Indeed, in planning ahead, it is essential to appraise the approach taken in the past. It is no different for The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM). We are thus very pleased to introduce ABM’s Annual Report 2009 to you for the first time via our website as a testament of our achievements last year and even more thrilled to be able to share with you some of our plans for the remainder of 2010.

The 2009 ABM Annual Report, we would like to think, contains much more information about ABM, its membership, structure, organization and activities than in previous years. In addition, we wanted very much for the 2009 ABM Annual Report to serve as a record of the line-up of wonderful counterparts from the commercial banking industry (including, of course, representatives of our Council members and their alternates) and our member banks as well as colleagues who have provided and continue to provide invaluable support to ABM. Without their indefatigable spirit of contribution, the small team at ABM would have been completely overwhelmed. Their names deserve to be heralded and our heartfelt appreciation goes out to them all. In the event there are names we have omitted, please understand that it was an inadvertent omission; we are terribly sorry and would like to thank you too.

In line with the contents of the 2009 ABM Annual Report, we are using our best endeavours to tidy up and stream-line the information posted on our web-site overall. Please be patient with us in case there are inconsistencies in the short interim. We would very much like, for example, to better explain that the membership of ABM is held by the member banks themselves and not the individual heads of organization of the member banks. Similarly, the ABM Council comprises altogether fourteen elected and co-opted Council banks. The heads of organization merely represent the member banks which are legal/incorporated entities. Hence, the membership of a member bank remains intact in the face of a resignation of its head of organization.

We have kept diligently to our programme for engagement drawn up for the year despite the many developments on the operations and technical fronts which cropped up, requiring our attention. You would have noticed from our “Events Photo Gallery” page that we had a successful outing in Ipoh, Perak recently in May 2010 - our fourth in the series of “Sesi Berinteraksi Bersama Organisasi Perniagaan”. Plans are underway for a financing fair and dialogues in East Malaysia later this year, probably covering both Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. We shall keep you informed as soon as all finer details are ironed out.

As part of our efforts to demonstrate that we have truly been listening and are acting on feedback received at these dialogues, we have been sitting down with our Council banks to plan how the process of applications for financing for the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can be simplified and made easier. Please keep an eye (and/or ear) out for the announcements on these initiatives which will be made soon!

On the international front, we are in the process of tying up the loose ends for the Annual Meeting and Conference of APEC Financing SMEs 2010 which we are organizing and hosting in mid-July. Themed “SME Development and Financing at the Threshold of the Next Decade – Review, Re-strategize, Revamp,” we look forward to an interactive exchange of views and ideas among the ten out of the eleven signatory countries which have confirmed their attendance towards the creation of an even more vibrant and active SME sector that will contribute towards generating sustainable and balanced economic growth in the region.

With the invitation to co-host the Asia Pacific Smart Card Association Asian payment card forum here in Kuala Lumpur as well as activities pertaining to the ASEAN Bankers’ Association slated for September and October, it is unlikely that we will see a slowing down of the hectic pace at the 2010 finishing line. Be that as it may, please rest assured that our ABMConnect and eABMConnect will continue to receive our focus and attention. Do contact us in the event of any query, complaint and/or suggestion. You, the banking public, are our very important stakeholder. We remain committed to ensuring that we serve the banking public to the best of our ability in the spirit of our vision and mission, “Forging public understanding for a responsible and responsive banking industry”.

Warmest wishes,
Mei Lin

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