“The Growing Importance of SME Financing”

01 Mar 16

Dr. Asad Ata
Director of MISI Centre for Sustainable Value Networks
1 March 2016

Dr Asad Ata – Speaker and a Panelist at the 2016 SWIFT Business Forum in Malaysia.
Speech Topic “The Growing Importance of SME Financing”

Abstract: The SME sector represents a substantial portion of all economic activity in the country, accounting for 60% of total employment and contributing 33% to Malaysia’s gross domestic product (GDP) and 19% of its exports. As it is the primary driver for job creation and GDP growth, it is important that there is sufficient support for this sector through SME banking. With the government’s efforts to lift Malaysia’s status to that of a high-income nation by 2020, SMEs will continue to be one of the pillars of the country’s economic development.

SWIFT Website link: https://www.swift.com/insights/events/swift-business-forum-malaysia-2016

Speaker list:

Ariya Ng
Head of Securities Services
Malaysian Electronic Clearing Corporation

Mohd Zaini Bin Aris
Head of SME Banking
Maybank

Dr. Asad Ata
Assistant Professor,MISI, Research, Affilliate Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim
Deputy Governor
Bank Negara Malaysia

Malaysia: Leading ASEAN with digital transformation and standardisation

Alain Raes
Chief Executive, Asia Pacific & EMEA SWIFT
SWIFT

Welcome to the SWIFT Business Forum Malaysia 2016

As one of the key pillar countries of the ASEAN, Malaysia stands at the forefront of boasting its solid financial system with its robust and diversified payments market infrastructure foundation and a continuously developing securities sector. The country also has strong fundamentals and rising potential in leading ASEAN regional integration in becoming the next innovative hub of the region with its significant investment and priorities set to develop the fintech industry.

The SWIFT Business Forum Malaysia 2016 will take place this March, gathering the local community representing financial institutions, market infrastructures, regulators, multinational corporations, and other industry experts to discuss pertinent issues concerning the nation’s financial market.

This year’s agenda will focus on the latest developments on market infrastructure trends in payments and securities, standardisations, as well as fintech investment.

We are confident that this Business Forum will offer our community an invaluable opportunity to share and collaborate on our ideas in fostering a more vibrant financial community in Malaysia and the ASEAN region.

I look forward to meeting you all in March.

Alain Raes

Chief Executive, Asia Pacific &
EMEA
SWIFT