KBZ Bank or Kanbawza Bank has more than 470 branches throughout Myanmar, with plans to grow its division devoted to SMEs. Running for a year, the new initiative uses credit guarantee insurance to attract borrowers, offers client banking training and has improved its IT operations to better serve SMEs.

More than 90 percent of the country’s businesses are SMEs, making them the country’s economic drivers. In the interview, Zaw Lin Aung, the managing director of banking and finance at KBZ Bank, said another strategy for their SME banking system is always looking at the kinds of businesses that have been successful or are new. When these types of SMEs take a step to further growth, the bank may help them in terms of supporting finance according to their business plans.