Kuala Lumpur, Thursday, 26 March 2020 – In light of the current outbreak of Covid19, The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) would like to announce that the following ABM member banks have come together and contributed funds amounting to RM10.0 million to help in our nation’s fight against the threat of Covid-19:
ABM is working together with MERCY Malaysia in its Covid-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan to channel these funds specifically for critical preparedness, readiness and response support actions for the Ministry of Health and the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC); operational supplies support and logistics; at-risk-community’s livelihood support and logistics; mental health and psychosocial support; and epidemics / pandemics risk reduction. Member banks are cognizant that there needs to be adequate medical supplies and equipment during such times of emergency which is paramount when providing critical and life-saving measures to those affected by Covid-19.
“It’s our hope that this collective contribution will go some way to relieve some of the pressures faced by health professionals and communities impacted by the Covid-19 outbreak. Hong Leong Bank is pleased to be part of this industry collective effort, and hope our efforts will ease the burden of our medical system and front-line health care professionals who are caring for our communities tirelessly to ensure that all Malaysians can be provided with adequate support during this difficult period,” said Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Hong Leong Bank Berhad.
“HSBC has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Malaysians for 150 years, through good times as well as more challenging times. We are therefore honoured to be partnering with ABM to donate RM1 million to MERCY Malaysia for the purchase of much needed medical equipment which will provide life-saving relief to many citizens. We are making this donation on behalf of our customers and our employees and wish everyone impacted by Covid-19 a full and speedy recovery”, Stuart Milne, CEO, HSBC Malaysia said.
“RHB has pledged RM1 million to MERCY Malaysia, through ABM, for purposes of procuring urgent healthcare and medical equipment as well as other essentials required by hospitals in managing the Covid-19 outbreak. We hope that our contribution will make a difference to all hospitals involved, together with all frontline teams, in providing them sufficient resources to help the fight against Covid-19,” said Dato’ Khairussaleh Ramli, Group Managing Director, RHB Banking Group.
“We at Public Bank have contributed RM1 million and we are doing what we can in whatever way possible to help combat the Covid-19 outbreak, whether directly or indirectly. The combined contribution of funds by the commercial banks will hopefully aid MERCY Malaysia to obtain and channel essential resources to where they’re needed most in the nation’s ongoing efforts to fight Covid-19,” added Tan Sri Tay Ah Lek, Managing Director/CEO of Public Bank Berhad.
The RM10.0 million collected under this ABM initiative does not include the individual contributions announced by some member banks prior to this, which would be managed separately by the banks concerned for their respective programmes aimed also at helping to combat the Covid-19 outbreak.