HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd CEO Datuk Omar Siddiq
KUALA LUMPUR: HSBC Malaysia is optimistic about the country’s long-term prospects, given its strong fundamentals and clear policies, which would attract more investors.
Chief executive officer Datuk Omar Siddiq said that in the grand scheme of things, after being present in Malaysia for over 140 years, currency fluctuations tend to play a relatively short-term role.
Thus, he said, this would not impact Malaysia’s attractiveness as one of the preferred investment destinations in Asean in the short term.
He noted Bank Negara has stated that Malaysia’s underlying fundamentals remain strong and very clear in the long term.
“We have seen this throughout the government’s efforts in 2023 and 2024 when more foreign direct investments are expected to come in.
“People are putting money into Malaysia and that is the biggest testament. We are very positive of the country,” he told Bernama after a briefing on its newly established Asean Growth Fund here.
HSBC, one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations, has allocated US$1bil of credit facilities via its Asean Growth Fund in six of the fastest-growth countries in Asean to help scale up platform players in the region’s booming digital economy.
Omar said the fund also aims to help digital platform players achieve economies of scale, grow their asset portfolios and advance along the corporate lifecycle.
“The opportunity for Asean remains bright. For the first time, HSBC is offering this dedicated Asean Growth Fund to accommodate debt financing for new economy businesses, more established corporates and non-bank financial institutions by assessing operating metrics tied to their cashflow-generative asset portfolio rather than relying solely on traditional financial metrics,” he said.
Meanwhile, managing director and head of commercial banking Karel Doshi said its survey of 600 companies across the six Asean countries contributed to the fund’s establishment when it found that 82% of respondents plan to increase their investments in digitalising their businesses in Asean.
“The opportunity is clear but not straightforward for businesses to navigate. What the business respondents tell us is that navigation across many Asean markets and the nuances are challenging.
“A total of 92% of our respondents find it challenging to have trusted regional banking partner. And that is where HSBC comes in,” said Karel.
She said HSBC is present not only in the six Asean countries, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, but is also in 62 other markets, thus enabling the bank to support clients in the region and the world.
In driving digital transformation, HSBC offers a range of digital financing and banking solutions such as the New Economy Fun, TradePay and OmniCollect. — Bernama
