Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has called on Maybank and other large institutions in the financial services sector to lead the way to secure the country’s future and help the next phase of Malaysia’s development.
“I am confident that Maybank will again rise to the occasion as it has in the past, especially given its current size, expertise and funding capabilities.
“In fact, I was proud to see that Maybank is now ranked among the top financial institutions in the Asean region with total assets exceeding RM344 billion and profit after tax exceeding RM3.7 billion,” he said at the bank’s 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner here tonight.
Najib who is Finance Minister, said that under the government’s Economic Tranformation Programme, the financial sector was identified as a key driver to support Malaysia’s growth goal and achieve its aspiration to become a high income, developed nation by 2020.
“This goal will require an estimated RM1.4 trillion investment over a 10-year period. We expect banks to help fund projects that will drive our economy forward, so that we can achieve this aspiration,” he said.
He said banks too would benefit from development as the expanded domestic economic activity would create potential financing opportunities of RM1.29 trillion.
“With over 90 per cent of financing expected to come from the private sector, there is no doubt that banks will be among the beneficiaries of the nation’s economic advancements,” he said.
He said banks would also find opportunities from the enlarged scope of the 10 Entry Point Projects for the financial services and these would be in equity and bond markets, payments, insurance, private pensions, wealth and asset management as well as Islamic banking.
On Maybank, Najib said many would remember the bank being promoted as “everybody’s bank” in the early years as there was a Maybank in every town offering convenience of banking to all Malaysians.
He said Maybank also embodied the 1Malaysia People First concept from the beginning.
“Today, you can see how the bank lives up to this idea with its diverse group of employees who offer services to every segment of the community throughout the country and beyond Malaysia’s shores,” he said.
Najib said he was confident that the expertise and experience the bank had garnered over the last half-century would support its future growth in the region’s financial services sector.
“I remember my first encounter with Maybank in 1986, when I obtained a credit card. I have been a loyal customer of this ‘tiger’ ever since,” he said referring to Maybank’s tiger logo.
He also commended the setting up of the Maybank Foundation with an initial RM50 million endowment whose mission was to help disadvantaged communities and support worthy causes throughout the bank’s network.
— BERNAMA
