Alliance Bank sees mid to high single-digit loans growth
KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd expects mid to high single-digit loans growth, driven by the growing small and medium enterprises.
Group chief executive officer Joel Kornreich said the financial services industry was facing a much lower single-digit loans growth compared with last year, due to economic slowdown.
“Bank loans would be stimulated if people have assured income, desire to have projects and confidence in the future. What really matters is improving confidence in the economy and our role would be to serve the people,” he said.
Meanwhile, the bank has launched Eco-Biz Dream Project, which is open to students of selected universities.
“The project is one such initiative by the bank to tap into today’s youth’s creativity and can-do attitudes.
“To help the students with their business propositions, we are also availing design thinking coaching in the hope that the solutions proposed be practical and sustainable,” said Kornreich.
In the next one month, Alliance Bank will be at 20 universities to host a two-hour design thinking workshop for students.
Students are required to form teams of four or five to join the project. They will have until December 2 to submit an introduction video, which includes their one-minute business pitch.
From this, five teams will be selected to attend additional workshops
on intermediate design thinking, before making their final pitch to the judges in January next year.
There will be five cash prizes — the first prize winner will bag RM10,000; the first and second runner-up teams will receive RM5,000
and RM3,000 cash, respectively; and two consolation prize winners will receive RM1,000 each. Amir Hisyam Rasid