SME Bank won two awards for its entrepreneur development initiatives from the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) in conjunction with the 43rd ADFIAP’s General Meeting which was held online from 28-29 October 2020.

Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative (MEDAC), YB Dato Sri Dr. Haji Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said, “MEDAC always supports SME Bank to organize various beyond financing program for the development of local SME entrepreneurs.”

The commitment shown by SME Bank in upholding its mandate was recognized when two of its initiatives, the Best Exporters Program (BEP) won the Best SME Development Project award and the National SME Digital Platform won the Best SME Technology Development Project award by ADFIAP,” added YB Dato Sri Dr.

The National SME Digital Platform is a Government initiative supervised by SME Bank as part of its two-year transformation plan. Under this initiative, SME Bank had introduced the ScoreXcess application to facilitate micro and small entrepreneurs for access to financing. The second application under this platform is ODELA, which provides e-commerce platform dedicated to business-to-business.

SME Bank Group President / Chief Executive Officer, Aria Putera Ismail said, “SME Bank always looked forward on how the Bank can help the country's SME sector through every intervention program and initiatives such as the Best Exporters Program that adds value to help entrepreneurs explore the international markets.”

“SME Bank's membership in ADFIAP has allowed us to discuss, share experiences and opinions on the development of the SME sector internationally. SME Bank will continue to remain committed in providing holistic services specifically for local SMEs so that we can support the government's aspirations in producing more successful entrepreneurs with international standard,” added Aria.

ADFIAP was founded in 1976, is a prestigious organization for the development banks and other financial institutions engaged in the financing of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region. ADFIAP has 87 member-institutions in 36 countries and territories, with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as a Special Member of the Association. ADFAP is also a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.