Ministry agencies must empower digital banking, especially AI, says Ramanan

KUALA LUMPUR: All agencies under the supervision of the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry are urged to empower their respective digital banking operations, particularly involving artificial intelligence (AI).

Deputy Minister Datuk R. Ramanan said it was in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s call to expand the use of AI systems in the country.

“Other countries are heading towards digitalisation. We need to take this opportunity to upgrade ourselves in digital banking so we will not be left behind,” he told a press conference after opening the 2024 Annual General Meeting of Bank Rakyat, here, on Saturday (May 18).

Besides Bank Rakyat, other agencies under the ministry include SME Bank, Tekun Nasional, the Cooperative Institute of Malaysia and the Malaysian Cooperative Societies Commission.

According to Ramanan, 902 delegates from all over the country attended the meeting on Saturday to share ideas about taking the banking institution to the next level.

“These delegates are the backbone of Bank Rakyat that will take the bank to a higher level. I am very proud of the management of Bank Rakyat,” he said.

Earlier, in his opening speech, Ramanan said the ministry always supports Bank Rakyat’s initiative in driving the development of the entrepreneurship sector and national cooperatives.

“Bank Rakyat’s continuous commitment through the implementation of various entrepreneurial initiatives such as Santai Namun Sampai, Rakyatpreneur, Bank Rakyat UNIpreneur and Sutera initiative which connects entrepreneurs with various stakeholders have had a great impact.

“This effort is very much in line with the ministry’s goal through the National Entrepreneurship Policy in producing competitive entrepreneurs in both the domestic and global markets towards making Malaysia a superior entrepreneurial nation by 2030,” he said.

In another development, Ramanan said a committee should be established to monitor the implementation of all plans and programmes for the Indian community, as proposed by the Selangor India Advisory Council (SICC).

Ramanan, a former chairman of the Special Committee of the Malaysian Indian Community Transformation Unit (Mitra), said the existing committee should be maintained and strive to do better for the betterment of the community.

“Our problem now is everyone wants to sit in one place to perform one task, but the problem is that 10 people are doing the same task. So when 10 people do the same task, A tells B to go right, and B tells A to go left, in the end, nothing gets done,” he said.- BK