ISTANBUL, TURKEY Agrobank, a Malaysian-based bank focusing on agriculture development, receives an international recognition from the Global Good Governance Awards (3G) for the category 3G Financial Services Awards in a ceremony held in Istanbul, Turkey.

 

The 3G Financial Services Award is awarded to Agrobank in recognition of the Banks commitment and outstanding contribution in financial inclusion and initiatives undertaken to broaden access to finance.  

 

According to Dr Humayon Dar, Chairman of the Global Good Governance Awards 2016, the Awards Committee was particularly impressed with the role Agrobank has played in developing financial products and services that uphold the 5 pillars of Good Global Governance – social responsibility, sustainability, impact, innovation & transparency.  Agrobank shows strong commitment in supporting the governments initiatives towards achieving full financial inclusion which would improve the lives of underserved community and drive economic growth particularly in rural areas, said Dr Dar at the awards ceremony, which was held in conjunction with the Global Donors Forum 2016.

 

The Global Good Governance Awards 3G Awards are presented to governments, corporate and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for excellence in transparency, good governance and social responsibility.

 

Dato Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman, President/CEO of Agrobank said, Agrobank is truly proud to receive this prestigious award.   This is a recognition for all our employees who have worked tirelessly especially in servicing the unserved and underserved community with heart and passion
Agrobank was established in 1969 with a clear mandate, which is to provide financial access and credit to the development and growth of the agriculture community in Malaysia. This was aligned with the nations aspirations then to reduce poverty and provide economic opportunities for the community especially in rural areas.

 

We always believe that financial inclusion is a powerful agent for strong and inclusive economic growth; empowering individuals and community to better their lives.  One of the focus to increase financial inclusion is by providing access to range of quality financial services at affordable rates and financing at competitive rates, said Dato Wan Mohd Fadzmi.

 

In recent years,  Agrobank put significant focus in developing more innovative products for targeted groups such as Paddy-i financing that is designed to cater for seasonal income earners of paddy farmers and also special financing for people with disabilities called AgroBakti.

 

This is in line with Agrobanks objectives to expand financial inclusion which is both a development imperative for underserved community and a forward-thinking approach to unlocking economic potential to new market, said Dato Wan Mohd Fadzmi further.

 

In addition to innovative financing, Agrobanks presence is also focused on servicing rural areas.  More than 71% of Agrobank branches and kiosks are located in these areas and in some towns in Malaysia, Agrobank is the only bank servicing the communities.

 

Agrobank also has appointed 210 banking agents particularly in rural areas to provide basic banking services, which is also part of financial inclusion initiatives.

 

Agrobank strives to balance its developmental and commercial roles.  Agrobank now provides full value chain financing for agriculture, including upstream activities such as the supply of agriculture production inputs, to downstream activities such as processing and selling agriculture products to customers.

 

We are grateful for the strong support by Bank Negara Malaysia, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry, our board members and stakeholders in realising our vision.

 

But most important of all, we are thankful to our customers, who has been our pillar of strength and supporting us over the years.   We are strongly inspired by their strong commitment, guts and focus to create better lives for themselves and their communities.  They are our inspiration to do our very best to continuously provide quality financial services, said Dato Wan Mohd Fadzmi.

 

Earlier this month on 2 May 2016, Agrobank also received an award from the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia Pacific (ADFIAP) for the Bank’s outstanding work in financial inclusion.  The event was held in Samoa.