Could you provide a brief journey of how you arrived where you are today?
I started off as an assistant manager in the consumer finance department at CMIC Finance & Securities in 1981, after which I joined Thana One Finance & Securities as an assistant vice-president of the hire purchase division in 1993. In 1998, I worked for V Conglomerate as the head of the loan recovery unit, managing over 12,000 account portfolios. The following year, I joined AIG Retail Bank as senior vice-president and the head of distribution network group.
After nine years, I moved to the Islamic Bank of Thailand as the senior vice-president of its retail banking group. I joined Amanah Leasing Public Company in 2010 and was appointed as the president and CEO.
What does your role involve?
With more than 20 years experience in retail banking, my role is to develop a trustworthy consumer finance house that provides Shariah compliant products and services as per the company’s vision.
Our missions are:
1. Financial goals:
Increase the sustainability of the company’s economic value return to all stakeholders.
2. Customer goals:
To achieve customer satisfaction by developing and providing Shariah products and services to all customers, with easy accessibility through our distribution channels.
3. Internal process goals:
To achieve trustworthiness in Shariah compliant operations by transforming all business processes to comply with Shariah principles and to create a company competitive advantage by developing lean and mean end-to-end business processes.
4. Learning and growth goals:
To be the employer of choice for all those who have talent and skills in consumer finance, by reversing the corporate culture and being a learning- and customer-centric organization.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
Under my leadership, the company has managed to turn around its financial performance from a loss of US$0.65 million to a profit of US$0.67 million in the third quarter this year.
I am also behind the implementation of the company’s first Islamic hire purchase and leasing products and services in the country.
Which of your products/services deliver the best results?
Our new car hire purchase financing product; which targets public license vehicles for SME’s customer group with new financing of about US$22.23 million, which is 55% of total new financing.
What are the strengths of your business?
We are the first Islamic consumer finance company to service our niche market for the nine million Thai Muslims in the country.
The state-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand provides financial support. As a Shariah compliant company, we also receive financing from the Sukuk market to match our cost of funds for medium and long-term financing.
What are the factors contributing to the success of your company?
Our Shariah products and services differentiate the company from the conventional banks.
What are the obstacles faced in running your business today?
Due to low brand awareness, there has been a continuous difficulty for people to access our Shariah compliant products and services. Similarly, the awareness for Takaful (life and non-life) is also relatively low.
Furthermore, the country’s laws and regulations do not support and develop the Sukuk market and/or any other Islamic corporate bond market.
Where do you see the Islamic finance industry in the next five years?
There will be more Islamic financial institutions in non-Muslim countries, especially in ASEAN, which can support the growth ratio of Shariah compliant asset bases.
Name one thing you would like to see change in the world of Islamic finance.
I would like to see an increase in the number of Islamic economic experts in Islamic financial institutions. I would also like to see an increase in Islamic finance educational institutions in the Asian region.