Banking dialogues with Sabah, S'wak businesses

Source from (Business Times): http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ABMS/Article/

Published: August 09, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR: The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM) conducted dialogues in Sabah yesterday and will revisit Sarawak today as part of its initiative to engage with small and medium enterprises (SMEs), business organisations and banks.

"It's timely to return to the two states to share recent developments with regard to SME financing and to get views and perspectives from SMEs on commercial banking-related matters," said ABM executive director Chuah Mei Lin.

She said response from various organisations towards the dialogue in Kota Kinabalu was encouraging with a turnout of more than 80 representatives, including the participation of all member banks presence in the state.

The dialogue was jointly organised by Bank Negara Malaysia and ABM,

The central bank, Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd and SME Corp Malaysia presented topics such as the spectrum of financing options available for SMEs and businesses, as well as how they would be able to benefit from the SME Masterplan, recently unveiled by SME Corp.

Chuah said such dialogues provided an excellent avenue for the business community to share with banks its suggestions and ideas for better collaborations.

ABM also took the opportunity to discuss the draft of Phase 2 of PARTNER, an initiative to enhance banking efficiency and customer services for SMEs.

"The first phase, launched in 2010, focused on streamlining and simplifying the application processes and procedures for SME loans," she added.

Since 2009, ABM has conducted a series of dialogues with various business chambers and associations in Penang, Batu Pahat, Kuala Terengganu, Ipoh, Kuantan and Sungai Petani. Bernama