Siam Commercial Bank to sponsor Asean Summit

Kamalkant Agarwal, SCB’s head of international banking business division and adviser to the chairman of the executive committee, said in the memorandum of understanding signing ceremony held at the Royal Thai Embassy that the bank was very proud to officially sponsor the summit.

“SCB’s support for this event reflects its efforts to promote sustainable development in the region and help Southeast Asia compete more effectively in the global arena,” said Kamalkant.

“With the 25th Summit, Myanmar will further demonstrate the progress of its economic and social development as the region prepares for integration under the Asean Economic Community by the end of next year,” he said.

The bank official added that the discussions at the Summit would help Asean countries to work through many challenges and forge stronger and sustainable regional growth.

Some say that the move is timely for SCB, as it occurs ahead of the Central Bank of Myanmar’s announcement of preliminary licence approvals for foreign banks by the end of this month. SCB is among the four Thai banks in the final stage of the process vying for a licence to operate in Myanmar.

Kamalkant declined to comment on this, saying that the aim of the sponsorship was just to help the nation’s Asean chairmanship without expecting any profit from it.

Deputy Minister for Finance Maung Maung Thein and Thai Ambassador to Myanmar Pisanu Suvanajata witnessed the signing of the MoU by SCB’s Kamalkant and Chaiyos Rungcharoenchai, chief executive of Kantana JK Consulting Management Co Ltd.

The Thai ambassador was quick to praise the bank’s sponsorship.

“This is the policy of [the] Thai government to support our private sector in order to help businesses in Myanmar to focus more on social responsibility. I believe that this sponsorship of Siam Commercial Bank to the Asean Summit is one of the examples of our banks’ social responsibility,” he said.

Maung Maung Thein also welcomed the move, but called for more sponsors as the summit is a one-of-a-kind opportunity for host country Myanmar.

“As only the Asean chair has the right to hold the summit, another such opportunity will come only after a decade. Even if you want to contribute in such an event again, you need to wait for at least 10 years. So, I would like to urge businesspeople not to miss but seize such a rare, excellent opportunity,” he said.

“It is the time for local business tycoons to show their goodwill towards the nation by participating in such a very timely event as official sponsors. Their sponsorship will be regarded as a kind of contribution to the government’s reform process.”

The deputy minister added that as the expected expenses for holding the summit are US$ 3 million, sponsors play a key role in making the event a success.

“Besides SCB, we have acquired some local sponsors for the event. Some businesspeople have yet to know about the opening of sponsorship. But we need more as the summit is very near and the expenses will be higher [than the SEA Games],” he said, without mentioning the names of approved sponsors.

As for the SEA Games, the Ministry of Finance took charge of finding sponsors. It raised more than US$ 2 million in sponsorship, with Kantana JK also conducted the sponsorship management for the event.

On the sidelines of the MoU signing, Maung Maung Thein also commented on the selection of Kantana JK as the firm to find sponsors.

“As for the SEA Games, the consultancy firm for finding sponsorship was selected by a tender process. We called for the tender applications through daily newspapers and chose the best one among those who submitted expressions of interest. Kantana JK was chosen again,” he said.