By James Kon
Her Royal Highness Pg Anak Isteri Pg Anak Hjh Zariah, the Chairperson of Baiduri Bank Group, and other members of the royal family attended the Baiduri Bank's Hari Raya Celebration "Malam Silaturahim 2007" at the Royal Berkshire Ballroom, Jerudong Park Country Club last night.
HRH was greeted by Mr Pierre Imhof, the General Manager of Baiduri Bank, and other members from the group's management committee.
In his welcoming address, Mr Pierre Imhof outlined the bank's positive performance over the past year. "I am glad to say that overall, we are expecting to achieve good commercial and financial performance in 2007," he said.
He also highlighted the major progress of Baiduri Bank Group over the past 12 months, such as the further development of the bank's wealth management unit, where several new products were introduced.
The General Manager of Baiduri Bank also touched on the successful launch of the a full-fledged wealth management centre at their newly relocated Kiulap branch, as well as the recent Baiduri Expo 2007 themed "Using Financial Planning To Achieve Your Goals And Dreams", which was held at The Mall in Gadong.
To meet increasing demand for wealth management products, he said that a second batch of the bank's employees will be completing their Certificate in Financial Planning on Nov 14. "This will bring the total of number professional financial planners in the bank to 38," he said.
In support of the nation's e-Government project, the bank has also taken steps to upgrade its e-channels. For instance, the bank now has a e-mail/SMS engine to enable it to send messages to its customers. Furthermore, the bank has recently introduced its next generation suite of services via the mobile phone called "FAST".
Baiduri Bank also opened a new branch in Muara Town and relocated two of its branches at Sengkurong and Kiulap to provide better accessibility and convenience to customers.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of Baiduri Bank pointed out that new ATMs have been added to the bank's network.
The bank's ATM at Brunei International Airport, for instance, dispenses four major currencies such as the US dollar, Euro, Singapore dollar and Brunei dollar. According to him, it was the first time that a bank has introduced such an ATM system in the Sultanate.
Other milestones of the bank were the launch of the new Baiduri Prestige Programme and the launching of several credit, debit and cash cards and other co-brand cards.
Speaking of the bank's community services, he said that Baiduri Bank Group holds various activities in support of the less fortunate. The bank has been supporting various child development programmes at Pusat Ehsan, Child Development Centre and SMARTER.
This year's Baiduri Bank Charity Golf event, an annual fundraising initiative in support of these organisations, recorded the highest number of participants ever recorded in a golf tournament in the Sultanate.
The highlight of last night's event was the presentation of donations to Pusat Ehsan, Child Development Centre and SMARTER by HRH. Pusat Ehsan was represented by Pg Datin Noraini, while Rose Lim and Major Shamsul Bahren Hj Taweh represented the Child Development Centre and SMARTER respectively.
Mr Pierre Imhof later presented a pesembah to HRH.
Last night's celebration also featured a dazzling show performed by local and foreign artistes. Some 500 guests were invited to the grand event.
- Borneo Bulletin
(28th Oct 2007)
