KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 8 -- AmBank Islamic Bhd has been named the Best Islamic Finance SME Bank Malaysia 2019 at the Alpha Southeast Asia Best Islamic Finance Awards 2019, held in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Commenting on the award win, AmBank Group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the bank was honoured to receive the award as it was a testament to its role as a leading financial provider that continues to support the growth and development of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank our SME customers for their support, and we at AmBank will continue to offer holistic solutions to all our customers,” he said in a statement today.

Meanwhile, AmBank Islamic CEO Eqhwan Mokhzanee said as part of its journey towards becoming a value-based intermediary, AmBank Islamic's financial inclusion agenda goes beyond the provision of financing, whereby the bank provided platforms for SMEs to network and build capacity via the AmBank Biz Series.

“AmBank Islamic also provides access to financing to the underserved segments such as start-up businesses via our SME Biz Start-up-i programme and is exploring to further leverage on technology to enhance financial inclusion,” he added.

Alpha Southeast Asia was established in 2007 and is the first and only institutional investment magazine focusing on Southeast Asia in particular Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

-- BERNAMA