Malaysia Proposes Establishment of Asean Women's Bank

By Kamarul Irwan Alias HANOI, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has proposed the establishment of an ASEAN Bank for women to help develop entrepreneurial skills and empower female entrepreneurs. Dr Wan Azizah who is also Women, Family and Community Development Minister said this was among matters highlighted during the third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) held here Thursday. "More opportunities should be offered especially to women entrepreneurs and if possible set up a women-only ASEAN Bank,” she told reporters here Friday. She said in Malaysia for example, female entrepreneurs received assistance through financing schemes such as Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia (AIM) and MySMELady which offered loans of up to US$239,607 (RM1 million). In terms of repayment for AIM loans she said 99.9 per cent of female borrowers paid off their loans as compared with 86 per cent of male borrowers. Dr Wan Azizah said the views and suggestions forwarded at the meeting would be discussed further at the ASEAN government officials level. Earlier, Wan Azizah held a bilateral meeting with her counterpart Pham Binh Minh, the last agenda on her three-day official visit to the city. During the 45-minute meeting, Dr Wan Azizah said the two countries which had established diplomatic relations for 45 years agreed to maintain peace and maritime trade freedom in the South China Sea. "We also discussed on increasing trade investment between Malaysia and Vietnam as well as ways to attract more tourists to both countries,” she said. Vietnam is among Malaysia's important trading partners with total trade in 2017 amounting to US$11.7 billion, a 13.9 per cent increase from 2016. It makes Malaysia as Vietnam’s 13th largest trading partner in the world and the fourth in ASEAN after Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. -- BERNAMA