MALAYSIAN Capital Markets Conference, attended!

UPDATED - 12 April 2010
As per comments by various presenters during the inaugural Conference last year...the RM has indeed strengthened!

Attended a 1 1/2 day inaugural Conference titled " MALAYSIAN CAPITAL MARKETS -Preparing for the Investor and Issuer Resurgence post-Credit Crisis " organised by International Financing Review(IFR) - THOMSON REUTERS at the Shangri-la Hotel, KL from 7-8 October 2009.

Common Themes:-

• ISLAMIC FINANCE - Growing Importance & Fast Growing Segment
( e.g 3years to establish IF on World Markets as opposed to 10years for Euro currency)
• ECONOMIC Recovery - Crisis is over....optimism compared to previous year!
• Indonesia - play on Indonesia..growing importance on the heels of China & India. 3rd Force!

Among the comments passed by Presenters:-

• RM becoming more attractive and is expected to strengthened
• Yen losing its lustre as a carry-on Currency
• Malaysia is the 3rd largest bond Market in Asia (The top being Japan )

Presenter's comments on IF / Development:-

• Commodity Murabaha - growing importance and acceptance as a means to manage IF's liquidity.
• IF as an alternative - IF was relatively unscatched (except for a few isolated incidences) during the 2008/2009 Global Financial crisis
• Sukuk Market - Emergence of Malaysia as World Sukuk Leader.
• Emergence of South Korea(presenter from KEXIM & participants from Korea such as Shinhan Asia) & France on the global IF map.

IF Blog COMMENTS:

Overall, it was a good conference to attend especially to update oneself of the latest scenario/ development in the Malaysian capital market - both conventional & Islamic.

I would suggest that in future, the Organisers should adhere more to certain protocol and/or customs e.g. asking for a show of hands as to who will attend lunch and listing VIP guests together with Conference participants in the same category is a definite "boo-boo".

PS: Good to bump into a Senior i.e. OP Effendi Abdullah of AmInvestment Bank.
Last met when he was an Assistant General Manager many years ago prior to my departure from EON's Islamic Banking Division.
Now, Director/Head - Islamic Markets & Public Sector

"INDONESIA - Access to Islamic Finance for SMEs" - WORLD BANK RFP

The WORLD BANK has recently issued a Request for Proposal (RFP), titled:-

" INDONESIA - Access to Islamic Finance for SMEs "

( Project Code TF 093571 #8038 )

6 organisations/firms have been short-listed to prepare the RFP. They are:-

1. Deloitte Consulting Malaysia Sdn Bhd ( MALAYSIA )
2. e.Gen Consultants Ltd. ( BANGLADESH )
3. Frankfurt School of Finance & Management ( GERMANY )
4. NORC
5. PLaNet Finance ( FRANCE )
6. P.T. Ernst & Young Advisory Services ( INDONESIA )

Considering the West's animosity towards Islam and anything-related to Islam, the RFP is certainly an interesting development.

The Author is of the view that the World Bank's RFP initiative highlights the emergence and importance of both:-

• INDONESIA
  ~ as an attractive Investment destination. Based on available data at the ASEAN Secretariat(ASEC) and Economic Research Institute for ASEAN & East Asia(ERIA)...both located in Jakarta, Indonesia is one of the few ASEAN countries that is expected to chart positive economic growth in 2009.
  Note: Author was an Intern at The ASEAN Secretariat in 2009 and visited ERIA in July 2009 ( refer ERIA Blog Post on 2 July 2009)



• ISLAMIC FINANCE (IF)
  ~ as a preferred source of financing. It is highly probable that the World Bank have taken cognisance of the fact that IF have remained largely intact and unscatched in the present economic downturn, unlike its conventional banking and finance cousins who's taken a terrible beating!
  
  

Note:
via an e-mail dated 22nd August 2009,
Blog Author received an invitation to participate in this RFP by one of the 6 firms shortlisted by the World Bank.

time is RIPE for an ASEAN definition of an SME!

( June 2009: Author - on the right,

with ASEAN Secretary-General, H.E. Dr. Surin Pitsuwan)

In most countries, SMEs formed the backbone of the economy be it in terms of the number of people employed, sales generated and other economic indicators.

Hence, I personally find it strange and surprising that despite the existence of an ASEAN SME Blueprint appearing in the ILO Report and the more recent Roadmap for an ASEAN Community, 2009-2015(C.1. SME Development, No.60 ), there is still no single ASEAN definition of what constitutes an ASEAN SME to-date!

Perhaps, the wide array of SME interpretation by different countries makes it difficult for ASEAN to come out with a standardised definition of an SME. For example:-

• INDONESIA: Different ministries, have "different interpretations" of what constitutes an SME.


• Singapore: Due to the "Currency Conversion" factor, what is normally considered as an SME company in Singapore DOES NOT qualify as one within the ASEAN context. Singaporean SMEs can be MNCs in some ASEAN countries.

• MALAYSIA: The policy-makers have defined SMEs within certain parameters. They are sales turnover, no. of employees and/or type of industry. Refer to SMIDEC (now renamed "SME Corp") for Malaysia's definition.

Considering the existence of the Roadmap for an ASEAN Community, I find it even stranger that SME data is NOT readily available when the writer conducted interviews at ASEC & ERIA. Perhaps, the very nature of SMEs i.e. non-availability of published data and its "unsexyness" is a turn-off for most researchers!?

Whatever the situation is, the author hopes that the ASEAN SME definition can be finalised

...the Sooner the Better!