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KCCCI lauds Johari on DBOS formation

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DATO’ Sim (2nd left) presenting a souvenir to Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari as Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kuih Hian (right), Sim Kiang Chiok (far left) and the others look on during a recent event.

KUCHING: Kuching Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCCI) Vice Chairman Dato’ Sim Swee Yong is happy to note that the Sarawak Government under the leadership of Datuk Amar Abang Johari is listening to the rakyat.

“It is clear that he has his hand on the pulse of Sarawakians. He has very quickly put into motion policies that meet the Sarawak Businessmen’s needs, with the setting up Development Bank of Sarawak (DBOS), and I am looking forward to further good news, that will benefit more local entrepreneurs,” said Sim. He pointed this out after the speech made by Johari whereby the Chief minister announced that Sarawak will establish the Sarawak Development Bank (DBOS) on the 4 April.

“It is exciting news and I am certain that this will help to accelerate the Sarawak development agenda. It includes a new hope and great optimism.

DATO’ Sim (2nd left) presenting a souvenir to Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari as Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kuih Hian (right), Sim Kiang Chiok (far left) and the others look on during a recent event.

“Now that we have DBOS; although the bank is mainly for the development purposes, I understand it also includes finance for related sectors such as tourism.

“I think the business community also expects that the bank will transform into a commercial bank to give more personalised services to Sarawakians. In this way the bank can drive entrepreneurship effectively. This is something we hope can be achieved in the future.

He mentioned also in the interview that Sarawak had seen its own local banks before.  Local banks were aware of the local borrowing or trustworthy levels and understand the local business culture.  This leads to faster loan approval process because decisions are made locally and based not only on proven income but also track record and future earnings.

He explained, local businessmen applying loan through West Malaysian based banks, the loan process is slow and difficult to approve. As the banks are not familiar with Sarawak businessmen applying for the loan, so it is necessary for them to go through the automated process, which relies solely on data of proven income.

“Coupled with the competition for the loans from more robust and big businesses based in West Malaysia which have ten times the business volume compared to Sarawak. This means that, Sarawak businessmen need

to compete with 15 million West Malaysian customers when applying for loans. Usually the result is we lose the business opportunity while waiting for the loan approval.”

Therefore, he hoped that with DBOS, Sarawak businesses and businessmen will benefit from fast loan approvals which will see more projects being implemented.

Dato’ Sim who is also President of The Federation of Kuching Division Community Associations, first called for the formation of a Sarawak Bank in his speech recently in conjunction with the federations 2017 Chinese New Year Dinner.  The dinner which was attended by Johari and his wife saw the Chief Minister extending a grant of RM240,000.00 to the federation to be distributed amongst its 24 members.

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