The bank’s CEO, Gurdip Singh Sidhu, said the bank also disbursed RM23 billion in loans to micro and small businesses.

“In addition to loans, we have also undertaken educational and enabling programmes such as the ‘SME Biz Ready’ for micro SMEs.

“As for our B40 customers, we had a ‘Jaga Duit’ campaign, working closely with the employers of these customers to jointly run the programme,” Gurdip said at the launch of CIMB Bank’s “Kita Bagi Jadi” initiative.

Gurdip said through CIMB Islamic, the bank’s flagship product, CIMB Eco-Save, had been able to put aside a percentage of funds which were then allocated to various conservation projects.

“We have disbursed over RM7 million over the last three years to support forest, river and wetland conservation efforts.

“These included the conservation of the Fraser’s Hill Forest complex, restoring stretches of the Sungai Batu river and protecting the Setiu wetlands in Terengganu.”

As part of the company’s corporate social responsibility, he said RM150 million had been contributed over the past five years through its initiatives in sports, education, arts, empowerment and the environment.

Gurdip said the company has collaborated with the government-backed investment arm, MyCreative Ventures, to support the Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (MPYO) as part of the newly launched initiative.

Under the one-year agreement, 40 MPYO members will be provided a 30-day music boot camp at CIMB’s full-fledged Akademi Nazir Razak training centre in Bangi.

“Our aim, ultimately, is to raise MPYO to the next level and have more Malaysians proudly claiming and owning MPYO,” he said.

Communications minister Fahmi Fadzil, who attended the event, praised the initiative, stating that this would help enhance the country’s national creative art industry.

“I believe we will witness more strategic collaborations and efforts like this.

“I hope more corporate partners will come forward to allow us to better showcase Malaysian creative talents to the world,” he said.