Report on APAC SME Banking Conference 2013 in Malaysia

APAC SME Banking Conference 2013 was held during 15-16 May, 2013 at THE ROYALE CHULAN HOTEL, KUALALUMPUR, organized by FLEMING GULF CONFERENCES, under cooperation with CYBER VILLAGE, ASIAN BANKERS ASSOCIATION AND ASIAN AFFAIRS BUSINESS COUNCEL. This conference was arranged in order to bridge the gap and unlock the growth opportunities in SME Banking. A. Events of conference 1. Deliberation by the finest industry experts 2. Deliberation by the Central Bank of Bangladesh i.e., Bangladesh Bank (the only central bank present in the conference) 3. Case study presentation 4. Problem solving sessions 5. Interactive panel discussions 6. Guru Panel, Fleming Gulf Conference 7. Deliberation by Dato Hafsah Hashim, CEO of SME Corporation Malaysia (He gave an idea of todays Asian economies, charting the future directions, potential rewards of SME untapped market, current issues and challenges of SME, forecasting the future market of SME 8. Dr. Marcus Lee, Chief Economist of Hampton Court Investment Bank explored business opportunities for foreign SMEs in China 9. Case study presentation by Mr. Victor Lee Meng Teck, Managing Director, Group Head of Business Banking, United Overseas Bank. The case study included key trends affecting SMEs access to finance, opportunities for SME financing in SouthEast Asia under adverse economic circumstances and global recession and new initiatives to support growing and wide range of SME financing entities. 10. Interactive panel discussion on Increasing loans on micro financing for SMEs in developing countries, Loan guarantees and bank support to engage in SME lending, loan vs equity financing, regional development fund vs variety of existing funds. 11. Deliberation on SMEs by Reynaldo P Orsoline, First Senior Vice President for Commercial and SME banking, RCBC Bank giving emphasis on the following issues: a. Maximum automation of SME loans origination b. Re evaluation with reduced operational costs on SME portfolio c. Measuring on portfolio management as the core risk management function d. Managing the F/E risk for SMEs 12. Deliberation by Malcolm Athaide, President and Country Head of Business Banking, Retail Banking, Inclusive and Social Banking of Yes Bank Ltd on transformation of risk management in SME lending 13. Deliberation by Donald Lim Kee Hong, Head of Business Development, CIMB Bank on SME Relationship Management 14. Deliberation by Datuk Zainal Abidin Hj Mohammed, Head of Business Relationship CIB, Business Banking SME and ICBU of Amislamic Bank, Malaysia on Islamic Banking for SME which included Shariah compliant financing for SMEs, Initiative by

MoF, SME Corporation, Association of Islamic Finance Malaysia on 2% rebate for SMEs 15. Deliberation by Steven Kenneth Miller, EVP & Head of Group Business Banking of Alliance Financial Group on using analytics to drive relationship management and innovation in SME banking 16. Deliberation by Syed Mohsin Ali Shah, EVP and Head of Cash Management, Corporate Banking, Bank Alfalah Limited on challenges and opportunities for the SME sector 17. Only central bank participated is Bangladesh Bank. Mr. Sukamal Sinha Choudhury, General Manager of SME and Special Programs Department spoke on central banks policy initiatives and role on SME financing and development. Initiatives of Bangladesh Bank under the leadership of Dr. Atiur Rahman were highlighted which received appreciation from foreign countries representatives. 18. Case study presentation by Kittima Thongket, SVP, SME Marketing & Business Development, Bank of Ayudhya PLC on changing SME Banking landscape, incorporating technology wise, product solutions and marketing 19. Deliberation by Zeeshan Mustafa, SVP & Head of Product Development, SME Banking, Burj Bank Ltd. on putting the right marketing strategies 20. Deliberation by Rohit Garg, Head of Business Banking, UAE, Egypt and Qatar, Mashreq Bank PJSC, UAE on the middle east perspective cross settling opportunities in the SME needs spectrum 21. Deliberation on cross border financing for supporting SME trading by Azrin Azizuddin, Manager of Business Support & Promotion Department, Business Division, Exim Bank 22. Roundtable discussion on the following seven topics by seven groups of participants, each group for one topic a. Is the dependency on relationship manager is a challenge to SME banking industry? Are banks only looking into ready talent in the market? b. Is SME clients need to be taught regarding the preparation of banks required documents and they will only being entertained at relationship manager level? c. What are the key differences between lending to SMEs and lending to large companies? d. Is the new competitors are increasing? How does it affect SME banking in future? e. Is credit bureau helping lending institutions with their evaluation and information for a variety of uses? f. How to identify the external resources (funding/technical support) to complement their resources g. How does your strategy give competitive advantage in the target market? B. Outcome of the program 1. Getting opportunity to hear firsthand experience from world leaders working in SME 2. Sharing knowledge, experience and solutions for overcoming the latest challenges in the field of SME

3. Beginning of a long term business association with all 4. Exploring new ideas and innovations 5. To go forward for enduring association C. Sponsoring organizations 1. Cyber village (www.cyber-village.net) 2. Terato tech D. Supporting associations 1. The Asian Bankers Association 2. Asean Affairs Business Council (www.aabcouncil.com) E. Media partners 1. Capital Business 2. Asian Banking and Finance 3. MSME News Network 4. Malaysia SME 5. Conference Locate 6. Oxford Business Group 7. Business Islamica 8. The Emerging Finance 9. Asia Today 10. The Paypers 11. Alhuda center of Islamic Banking and Islamic Economics (CIBE) 12. BVents 13. Amilin.tv 14. BanksDaily.com 15. PrivateBanking.com 16. True Banking F. Participating organizations 1. Agrani Bank, Bangladesh 2. Agro Bank, Malaysia 3. Ahli United Bank B.S.C (AUB), Bahrain 4. AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics, UAE 5. Alliance Finance Group, Malaysia 6. AmBank(M) Berhad, Malaysia 7. Amilin TV, Malaysia 8. AmIslamic Bank, Malaysia 9. ASEAN AFFAIRS, Thailand 10. Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh

11. Bank Alfalah Ltd, Pakistan 12. Bank of Ayudhya, PLC, Thailand 13. Bank of Thailand, Thailand 14. Burj Bank Limited, Pakistan 15. CIMB Bank, Malaysia 16. Cyber Village, Malaysia 17. DFCC Bank, Srilanka 18. EXIM Bank, Malaysia 19. Export Import Bank, Malaysia 20. EXIM Bank, Bangladesh 21. Hampton Court Investment Bank, China 22. Hong Leong Bank, Berhad, Malaysia 23. HSBC Bank, Berhad, Malaysia 24. International Finance Corporation, Vietnam 25. Malaysia Land Transport Authority, Malaysia 26. Malaysia SME and MSME News Network, Malaysia 27. MARA Industrial and Business Development, Malaysia 28. Mashreq Bank, UAE 29. MayBank Berhad, Malaysia 30. Microfinance Bank Bai Tushum and Partners, Kyrgyzstan 31. National Bank of Oman, Oman 32. RCBC Bank, Philippines 33. RHB Banking Group, Malaysia 34. Security Bank Corporation, Philippines 35. SIMAH-Saudi Credit Bureau, Saudi Arabia 36. SME Corporation, Malaysia 37. Societe Generale, India 38. TBA, Egypt 39. Terato Tech Sdn Bhd, Malaysia 40. The Export Import Bank of China, China 41. Times of Money Ltd., India 42. United Overseas Bank, Singapore 43. Vietnam Bank, Vietnam 44. Yes Bank Ltd., India G. Initiatives to be taken by SME and Special Programs Department, Bangladesh Bank 1. Continue communication with the following organizations for exploring areas of cooperation in future and make linkages with Bangladeshi organizations: a. SME Corporation, Malaysia b. Hampton Court Investment Bank, China c. Alliance Financial Group d. United Overseas Bank e. SME Bank Malaysia f. RCBC Bank

g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n.

Yes Bank, India CIMB Bank AmIslamic Bank, Malaysia Bank of Ayudhya, PLC, Thailand Burj Bank Ltd. Mashreq Bank PJSC, UAE Exim Bank ASEAN Affairs Business Council

2. Making linkages of Bangladeshi Islamic Banks with Islamic Banks of Malaysia and other Islamic Banks of other Islamic Countries. 3. Cooperate with Fleming Gulf for holding very suitable workshop/conference, training in Dhaka, Chittagong or Coxes Bazaar with participation of all banks, NBFIs and SME related organizations of Bangladesh bringing experts from dedicated banks, organizations around the globe from whom our stakeholder may learn and forge linkages. 4. Continuing communication with all sponsors, supporting associations for exploring future cooperation.

- Signed (Sukamal Sinha Choudhury)