KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 2): CIMB Group Holdings Bhd sees a lot of growth opportunities in Indonesian Islamic and consumer segments, given Indonesia’s 260-million population, and the bilateral agreement inked by Bank Negara Malaysia and Indonesia's financial services authority has provided an "additional impetus" to the group to expand its existing business in Indonesia.

“We applaud the move by Indonesian and Malaysian regulators to give their banks greater access to each other’s markets, which is positive for the banking industry of both countries,” said the banking group’s chief executive Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz.

"As one of the top five banks in Indonesia by asset size, with a current customer base of 3.6 million and strong H12016 results, CIMB Niaga is well-poised for further growth. This Indonesia-Malaysia agreement is also an important step towards improved ASEAN economic integration, paving the way for CIMB to continue delivering its ASEAN universal banking proposition," he added.

Bank Negara signed the agreement with Indonesia’s Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, under the Asean Banking Integration Framework (ABIF), yesterday.

Bank Negara had said the agreement would provide greater access and operational flexibility for Malaysian and Indonesian Qualified Asean Banks, operating in the respective jurisdictions.

The move would link the two largest Islamic banking sectors in the region, and give Malaysian banks a potential lead in accessing the world's biggest Muslim-majority country, which remains restrictive to foreign lenders, said Reuters.