16 œ theSun | TUESDAY JULY 14 2009

business

Banks need clear strategy
to ensure viability: PwC
KUALA LUMPUR: Banks, including
those not impacted by the financial crisis,
should have a clear strategy to ensure that
they continue to be relevant in an evolving
financial market landscape, according to
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
“Banks need to act quickly to develop
comprehensive plans, first to stabilise
their businesses and then to move for-
ward,” said PwC Malaysia partner Soo
Hoo Khoo Yean.
“Typical reactions from the banking
industry to the current financial crisis
have, understandably, been short term
in nature,” Soo Hoo said in a statement
yesterday.
“However, even for the Malaysian
banks which remain relatively unscathed
from this downturn, there is no guarantee
that they will do well in the future, espe-
cially with the recent liberalisation of the
financial sector,” he said.
Against the expected keener competi-
tion, Malaysian banks needed to review
their current business model for sustain-
ability in the long term, Soo Hoo said.
“The risk is that taking a short-term
view can undermine the longer term vi-
ability of the business. Banks are highly
complicated structures and the tempta-
tion for a quick fix can divert them from
doing the ‘right thing’,” he said.
To ensure future success, banking
strategy must get the fundamentals right,
including governance, risk and control,
financial management, delivery, legal
and physical structures, and people and
reward, Soo Hoo said.
“Nothing less than a world-class
approach will suffice and the ability to
address all of these issues, in the correct
order and to ensure that responses are
aligned will be of critical importance to
survival,” he said.
EU to further develop projects
with Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR: The European
Union (EU) will further develop
projects in the fisheries, services
and forestry sectors with the re-
spective local ministries to boost
trade with Malaysia.
EU-Malaysia cooperation
programme manager Pablo Igle-
sias Rumbo said yesteray total
trade between both parties may
decline slightly this year from €28
billion (RM137.2 billion) recorded
last year.
“This year, trade volume is
‘Dual currency
Woods
investment
gaining
back
in the
spotlight
pg 29
momentum’
KUALA LUMPUR: OCBC Bank (Malay-
sia) Bhd sees vast growth potential in dual
currency investments (DCIs) as customers
According to Soo Hoo, effecting real are more familiar with the short-term non-
change across an organisation requires principal protected alternative investment
skill and dexterity, taking strategy and form.
driving it while at the same time manag- OCBC Bank Premier Banking head Tye
ing current business risks and developing Su Leng said DCI was a boon to clients
individual components. conducting business transactions in alter-
“Putting them together in the right nate currency, particularly using foreign
way and delivering sustainable change is currency in the import-export business.
the challenge which will set the winners “It also appeals to clients who have
apart from the rest,” he said. – Bernama invested in properties and housing loans
in their alternate currencies and who have
children pursuing tertiary education over-
seas,” she said in a statement.
Through DCI, customers’ investments
are made in one currency known as the
“base currency” to vie for higher interest
rates, Tye said.
She said payment at maturity can either
be in the base currency or in another
expected to be less between the partnerships with local small and agreed-upon currency at a pre-determined
EU and Malaysia due to the global medium enterprises, especially in exchange rate set by the investor when the
economic uncertainty,” he said environment and energy, natural transaction is entered into.
after a briefing on the EU-East resources or forestry, agriculture “With tenures of between two weeks
Asean Growth Area (EAGA) Busi- and aquaculture, and ecotourism. and a month, the DCI is a viable option
ness and Technology Partnership According to Rumbo, EU firms for investors looking to make short-term
here. should emulate Malaysia’s move investments,” she said.
Rumbo said the trade deficit of diversifying its businesses and Tye said OCBC Bank offered a wide
with Malaysia is also expected exports to cushion the impact of range of currency pairs for clients to choose
to continue as the EU has always the current economic difficulties. from to suit their investment preferences.
been a top export destination. “We hope that in this trying “Our clients find the structured product
He hoped that with the times, EU firms will look at appealing and many use it for their chil-
EU-EAGA partnership, more geographical areas not ventured dren’s overseas education,” she said.
EU firms will consider forming before,” he said. – Bernama In fact, due to the current market vola-
tility and slowdown in unit trust products,
Tye said the shine seemed to be upon
foreign currencies as a viable alternative

US gaming tycoon says Asian dreams intact for investors.

SINGAPORE: It has been a chal-
lenging year for Sheldon Adelson,
but the bullish 75-year-old US
casino tycoon is confident he has
enough aces up his sleeve to revive
stalled projects in Asia.
The construction of new
casinos in Macau and Singapore
has been delayed after the global
financial crisis hit both economies
hard and Adelson’s company Las
Vegas Sands ran into funding
problems.
Once ranked the third wealthi-
est American by Forbes Magazine
until the meltdown wiped out a
substantial chunk of his fortune,
he was forced to inject US$1 bil-
lion (RM3.55 billion) of his own
money into Las Vegas Sands.
But the self-made billionaire
says the experience accumulated
since he first went into business as
a 12-year-old will help him put his
gaming empire back on a winning
streak, and industry analysts are
giving him decent odds.
“I intend to rain on critics’
parade,” Adelson told a Singa-
pore news conference last week
in reference to bleak economic
forecasts.
“If we are in the down portion
himself as a “gut variety, plain
vanilla entrepreneur.”
Adelson has invested heavily
in Asia in recent years, mainly in
Macau, where a pre-crisis gaming
boom saw the former Portuguese
colony overtake Las Vegas in
terms of overall revenue.
One industry analyst said
Adelson may have taken huge
risks in pursuing his Asian
expansion – but it might pay off
eventually.
“There is no question that the
company has for quite some time
taken a very strategically aggres-
sive approach to the Asian market
place,” said Jonathan Galaviz, a
partner with Nevada-based con-
sultancy Globalysis.
“Yet at the same time, one has
to have respect for that because
the Asian market place is going to
be the growth place for the next
10-20 years.”
Adelson said he was aiming
to restart the stalled projects in
Macau later this year once Las
Vegas Sands completes a fund-
raising exercise for US$3.5 billion
(RM12.43 billion).
A sale or public listing of the
Macau assets are among the op-
(RM7.1 billion) needed to com-
plete the projects, he said.
“We are shooting for a restart
of the Macau project before the
end of this year,” said Adelson,
chairman of Las Vegas Sands.
The delayed projects are part of
the company’s ambitious US$12-
billion (RM42.6 billion) building
plan in Macau on a reclaimed strip
of land known as Cotai Strip.
Squeezed by the global credit
crunch, Las Vegas Sands an-
nounced in November that work
on sites five and six on the Cotai
Strip would be stopped until
financial market conditions im-
proved.
Sites five and six include an
1,800-room Sheraton hotel and
three casinos.
The Vegas firm was
also forced to fire up
to 11,000 mainly
construction staff
as work ground
to a halt on the
projects.
Like in Macau,
Adelson’s Singa-
pore project has
also run into
delays and cost
materials and labour, issues that
are beyond his control, he said.
A US$5.5-billion (RM19.53
billion) casino and convention
complex, Marina Bay Sands, is
now targeted to open in either
January or February 2010,
instead of end-2009
as originally
planned.
- AFP
AFPPIX
With a minimum RM250,000 investment
and no annual management fees or sales
charged imposed, the DCI is currently
available at most OCBC Bank branches and
Premier Banking Centres nationwide, she
added. – Bernama
Bank Islam
brings down
NPLs
KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia
Bhd says it has brought down its non-per-
forming loans (NPLs) rate to a single digit for
the financial year ended June 30, compared
with 14-15% the previous year.
However, its general manager of con-
sumer banking division, Khairul Kamaru-
din did not disclose the actual figure.
The management will announce the
figure during the company’s year-end an-
nouncement which is normally around
August or September, he told reporters
after a price-giving ceremony here for the
winners of the bank’s first Al-Awfar Savings
and Investment Account-i draw.
Khairul said the bank achieved the lower
NPLs rate by being more aggressive and
focused in its tasks. “We focus on recovery

now, we can look forward to go- tions being explored to raise the overruns due
ing back (up),” he said, describing money, including US$2 billion to shortages of
Proton moves to strengthen export market
KUALA LUMPUR: Proton Holdings Bhd has taken benefit from the economies of scale, quality and
further steps to ensure its overall export plans capability transfer, the company said.
and strategies are aligned with those of its inter- The markets were chosen for their pre-existing
national importers and distributors. trade and culture linkages with Malaysia and Pro-
In line with this, the national carmaker held ton leveraged on this to reduce its cost in making
a two-day International Distributor Conference further inroads, it said in a statement yesterday.
that ended last Friday, where it not only shared The strategy also identified several key
updates and details but also held dialogue ses- regional centres, namely China and Iran, for the
sions to gather feedback on various operational establishment of completely knocked down (CKD)
issues abroad. operations which allowed Proton to serve its
Emphasis was on high growth regional customers in the region more effectively.
markets, namely Asean, China, India and Middle “The current environment clearly indicates
East-North Africa (MENA), where Proton is able to that the challenges ahead would demand for a
Adelson ... I intend to rain on critics’ parade.
more aggressive export strategy for Proton,” said
managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed
Mohamed Tahir.
“Staying competitive and our ability to sustain
requires for our export operations to operate
differently and if need be, drastic changes will
be made to ensure growth in Proton’s business
abroad,” he said.
According to Syed Zainal Abidin, the national
carmaker wants to ensure that its international
importers and distributors are on the same page
when it comes to Proton’s moving forward strat-
egy. – Bernama
work and at the same time we focus on our
business growth.”
On Al-Awfar Savings and Investment
Account-i, he said the bank had successfully
registered 40,990 new accounts, totalling
RM145.8 million in worth as at end of
June.
“Eighty per cent of the RM145.8 million
are saving accounts, while the remaining
20% registered for investment,” he added.
The bank, which earlier projected to
achieve RM300 million in saving accounts
by end of the year, is now confident of
achieving the target by September.
“We have been seeing an overwhelming
response since we launched it in March this
year,” he said.
Customers are entitled to win cash prizes
up to RM100,000 every three months when
they sign up with the Al-Awfar Savings and
Investment Account-i. – Bernama