AMBANK PLANS TIE-UP TO EMPOWER SMES

Lender expects to wrap up discussions with International Trade and Industry Ministry by year-end

AMBANK Group is in talks with the International Trade and Industry Ministry to form a collaboration to further empower local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said, however, the plan was still in early stage of discussion.

“We believe there is a way to incorporate our expertise to work with SMEs through government

agencies,” he said.

Sulaiman said SMEs were well aware of the need to automate their businesses by tapping various forms of technology, such as the Internet of Things (IoT).

However, most of them do not have the expertise nor the funding for the venture.

“The ministry will provide grants to SMEs while AmBank will offer technical and network expertise, as well as financial assistance,” he said, adding that it would be a potential collaboration through AmBank BizRACE.

Sulaiman expects to wrap up the discussions with the ministry by year-end.

Meanwhile, the AmBank BizRACE is a business challenge designed to enable SMEs to scale and grow with executive learning experiences and media exposure. The competition is open to businesses with more than one year of operation and annual turnover of less than RM100 million.

Sulaiman had launched the Beyond Financing Series, which will cover four key topics relevant to SMEs — technology, green business, halal business and branding and marketing.

The programme aims to provide SMEs with an understanding of these crucial topics, as well as a way to bring forth the needs of SMEs and how industry participants fuel the growth of local SMEs.

“We are in pole position in terms of SMEs, with the Beyond Financing Series, we aim to strengthen our position further while doing more to help SMEs grow and succeed by equipping them with the knowledge and solutions required to face future challenges.

“It’s imperative for SMEs to accelerate IoT adoption to survive the age of disruption. AmBank is keen to do our part by forming a dedicated panel of experts on IoT to help SMEs focus on what they need to do... in terms of execution and implementation.”