Novan Amirudin, Group CEO of CIMB Group Holdings Berhad, outlines CIMB's strategy for the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone (JS-SEZ). Explore how CIMB is supporting businesses, introducing special financing programmes, and partnering with government bodies to maximize JS-SEZ's potential. Understand the adjustments in investment criteria and the role of JS-SEZ in mitigating economic risks amidst global uncertainties.
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00:00Okay, anda masa ini bersama saya Najib Aruf dan juga rakan setugas daninya Rosman.
00:03Kita bersama di pesanan Johor ini bersama dengan Johor Singapura Special Economic Zone, JSICZ.
00:09Dan kali ini kita bersama dengan sebuah bank lagi yang tapak yang begitu besar, luas sekali di peringkat ASEAN ini,
00:14iaitu CIMB. Kita bersama dengan Norvan Ameruddin, grup CEO CIMB Group Holdings Berhad.
00:18Norvan, thank you so much for joining us.
00:20How are you?
00:21I'm very well, thank you. Thanks for having me today.
00:23It's not too late to say, Samad Hari Raya to you.
00:25Okay, I want to talk about CIMB's focus and strategy for JSICZ, especially,
00:32and what kind of support do you think that businesses need in this particular area for future development?
00:38Well, it's an extremely highly uncertain environment right now,
00:42and with a lot of uncertainties, businesses, it's very difficult to operate.
00:48So what JSICZ brings is something that's very unique, something that's very exciting.
00:53You don't see any other part within Southeast Asia that contains the characteristics of JSICZ.
01:00You have two governments that are very motivated, very incentivized to provide various incentives to companies to operate.
01:09At the same time, there's abundance of land, there's a lot of energy and resources,
01:14there's access to human capital, and also access to a global financial capital in Singapore.
01:20So both Johor and Singapore brings a lot of these unique characteristics within JSICZ,
01:26which, in my view, eliminates or at least mitigates some of the uncertainties that we are seeing today.
01:33Now, CIMB is an ASEAN bank.
01:36We have experience operating in multiple jurisdictions.
01:40We are extremely excited to support businesses to navigate through these uncertainties,
01:46and therefore, in conjunction with JSICZ, we are announcing two commitments this morning.
01:52The first commitment is we are going to commit RM10 billion of financing for businesses that would like to expand and operate within JSICZ over the next three years.
02:06Our second commitment is, in line with our role as an ASEAN bank, we are launching what we call the ASEAN Passport.
02:16And this will allow companies within Southeast Asia to do more seamless cross-border operations within Southeast Asia itself.
02:28So, 10 billion financing and the ASEAN Passport.
02:3210 billion is such a huge number.
02:35I want to ask about the appetite of 10 billion.
02:36Is this included, the green financing as well for CIMB?
02:40Yes, it includes multiple types of financing.
02:44Whether is it green financing, whether is it working capital that is extremely important for customers,
02:51especially during these uncertain times, whether it includes hedging solutions, risk management, FX solutions.
03:02So, the 10 billion financing covers all forms of credit.
03:06Coming here for the JSICZ, for the Joint Business and Investment Forum,
03:11many are hoping for, is that something big, is something new and better for us?
03:15Are there any special financing programs that have been introduced by CIMB for the JSICZ?
03:22Well, we will curate products that our customers want.
03:27Because what's most important is what our customers need.
03:30Of course, today we have a variety of financing products, whether it is for large corporates or SMEs.
03:38Large corporates have an array of financing products, like it could be term loans,
03:42it could be revolving credit facilities, it could be trade facilities.
03:47With regards to more specific SME, we also have special products like our SME BizReady products,
03:53our Halal BizReady.
03:55But we want to curate products that our customers want.
03:59And especially what our customers need in this uncertain time.
04:02So, we will be working very closely with our customers over the next coming months
04:07to curate products that make sense for them.
04:09Okay, let's talk about the...
04:12Your booth at the back.
04:13It's very interesting because bridging economies and strengthening supply chains.
04:17Let's talk about the supply chains side, because this is very important and crucial for ASEAN especially.
04:22Where does CIMB place itself in the supply chains?
04:27And how do you enable, be the enabler for supply chains empowerment in ASEAN?
04:32Yeah, so we bank all sorts of customers from every area.
04:39Whether is it individuals, high net worth individuals, to small SMEs, micro SMEs, mid markets, large corporates, governments.
04:50We bank all customer segments.
04:52And all customer segments rely on one another.
04:55If you are a company operating today, you know, you have your suppliers who supply you products.
05:01You need to deal with the government agencies with regards to any approvals, any incentives, any grants that you may require.
05:09You also have purchasers.
05:11Purchasers could be retailers.
05:13It could be distributors.
05:14It could be end customers.
05:15So, because we bank all customer segments over the entire supply chain, what we want to do is to connect our customers across that supply chain.
05:27So, rather than just banking one customer, we also provide facilities to your customers, for example, to be able to purchase products from yourselves.
05:36We also bank customers, our customers, and provide them financing facilities or risk management facilities as they need to also acquire products from their suppliers.
05:47So, it's an entire supply chain that we will work towards.
05:53All right, definitely it's not easy if you want to connect all of your customers, connect across all the supply chain, as we need everybody helps in this, everybody efforts in the initiative.
06:01Can you maybe share with us, are there any, like, new partnership with government bodies or even trade partners to maximise the potential of JSSEZ?
06:12Yes, I mean, this requires everyone to collaborate and work together.
06:16We at CIMB, we have been working with various government agencies, whether it's from the federal government, whether it's government agencies, to basically promote JSSEZ.
06:27So, one example is, you know, we work very closely from federal to MITI to, you know, organisations like Invest Malaysia, IRSA, even on the Singapore side, we work very closely with the trade department, with commerce associations.
06:46So, we work extremely closely with all these parties, combine that with across the supply chain that I just articulated, and that's how we, you know, add value to our customers and reduce uncertainties.
06:58Yeah. So, will CIMB be adjusting your criteria and investment threshold, given that we have a new trade environment, especially for JSSEZ and all this economic zone?
07:10Well, it's still too early for us to comment on that. As you're aware, there is a 90-day pause period. The Minister of Trade is going to the United States, you know, next week to meet with his counterpart.
07:24So, it's still very early days. So, we are still committed with regards to our targets, with regards to our thresholds that we have committed earlier.
07:33All right. Maybe last one, Nervyn, because we want to be both a cooperation between the two countries, not just to take the lead, but lead the conversation as well.
07:44From the CIMB wish list, maybe you can share with us three top wish lists coming on from this.
07:50Well, I hope there's going to be a lot more collaboration. Everyone is going to be working very closely with one another.
07:56And with that, we hope that there's going to be a lot more investments, FDI, into the country, and also hiring of a lot more human capital, which will then have a multiplier effect on the society.
08:08Thank you.