This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 20, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia stands to benefit from a stronger growth of the Asean region, according to United Overseas Bank (M) Bhd’s (UOB Malaysia) economist, Julia Goh.

One of the drivers of this growth is large-scale infrastructure projects, like trans-Asian railway, that are connecting the region to new opportunities, especially China’s One Belt, One Road initiatives.

Malaysia, China’s largest trading partner in Asean, will be able to ride on this growth, she said. Along with improved infrastructure, the number of middle-class households in the region is projected to double to 163 million in 2030 from 2013, which will drive not only domestic demand but intra-regional trade and investment flows.

“Its (Malaysia’s) economy is showing signs of resilience with gross domestic product projected to grow by 5.8% in 2017 (the government’s official projection is 5.2%-5.7%), driven by domestic demand. Malaysia is [also] poised to benefit from a number of large-scale infrastructure projects [domestically],” Goh added.

Among such projects are the refinery and petrochemical integrated development project in Pengerang, Johor; Petroliam Nasional Bhd’ LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak; the Rawang-Salak Selatan Line in the central region of Peninsular Malaysia; the Kuantan Port in Pahang; the Pan Borneo Highway in Sabah and Sarawak; the mass rapid transit Line 2; the light rail transit Line 3; the East Coast Rail Link; and the Kuala Linggi Port in Melaka.

UOB Malaysia, which has recently been recognised as the “Best International Bank” in Malaysia by Asiamoney magazine, can leverage on its strong presence in the region to capitalise on this growth.

Present in eight out of the 10 Asean member countries, UOB Malaysia grew its cross-border deals for enterprises which are midsized multinationals and Asian corporates by more than 40%, with a turnover of over RM94 million, in the first eight months of this year.

From January to June, UOB Malaysia recorded a double-digit growth of 11% year-on-year in profit before tax to RM803 million to be the most profitable foreign bank in the country. It remained the largest foreign bank in Malayia by total assets — RM105 billion — as at June 30.

Moving forward, the Singapore-based bank intends to focus on its wealth management propositions, stronger digital platform, building scalable and sustainable Islamic banking franchise, meeting the needs of the millennial customer base, and developing talents, to keep its growth momentum.

Recently, UOB Malaysia partnered with the Asian Banking School (ABS) to launch the UOB-ABS Wealth Advisory Certification Programme, the first wealth management programme in the country to certify bankers with accredited wealth advisory skills. This was in line with the bank’s wealth management propositions to help affluent customers build, protect and preserve their wealth.

Ronnie Lim, managing director and country head of personal financial services of UOB Malaysia, said the programme will offer bankers essential training to be able to advise customers on how best to structure and plan their wealth by taking into account their preference and life-cycle stages.

The move came in the midst of strong growth seen in the affluent segment. According to Malaysia Wealth Report 2016, Malaysia’s high-net-worth wealth is projected to grow by 31.9% to reach US$210.6 billion or about RM888.7 billion by 2020.

Other than the affluent segment, UOB Malaysia has also set its eyes on Islamic banking and financing. On July 24, the bank strengthened its Islamic banking team with a new head, Nik Norishky Thani.

“Islamic banking is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the financial markets. With the robust regulatory infrastructure that we have in place here in Malaysia, it is easy to see why Islamic banking is gaining traction across sectors of the economy. This is a tremendous opportunity for UOB Malaysia and we aim to grow our Islamic banking businesses within Malaysia as well as support the Islamic banking needs across the UOB Group base,” said Nik.

Nik added that the bank’s Islamic banking operations in the country will serve as a platform to meet regional demand for alternative sources of financing.