Forest City has announced that it has inked an agreement with CIMB Bank Berhad (CIMB) to open a CIMB branch in Forest City, Gelang Patah, Johor and will be the first and only banking branch in the Forest City development upon its launch.
Scheduled to be opened by year-end of 2020, the Forest City CIMB branch will be located at the commercial street of Forest City which will provide customers with comprehensive banking services in order to serve the banking needs of the surrounding businesses and communities. Forest City, adjacent to Singapore and situated in the Iskandar Special Zone of Johor Bahru, is currently the largest overseas project of the Country Garden Group (Country Garden).
“In keeping up with industry developments, the company is now evolving from its role as a real estate developer into a City Operator. One of the main components in the city operator role is industry development and economic enhancement. We highly welcome CIMB, one of ASEAN’s leading banks. Its establishment in Forest City will definitely contribute to greater economic vitality for the region and create a stable and healthy city development,” said Shawn Luo, the Chief Finance Officer of Country Garden Malaysia-Singapore Region.
Under the master plan of Forest City, eight promoted industries have been identified to support the long-term development of Forest City, namely Tourism, Healthcare, Near-Shore Finance, Education and Training, Regional Headquarters, Emerging Technology, E-commerce, Green and Smart Industry.
“By having a CIMB branch here in Forest City, it is in line with our vision in developing near-shore finance; one of the identified core industries. CIMB’s network will provide comprehensive financial services to the house owners, staff, retailers and even companies surrounding Forest City. Furthermore, financial services are essential for us to attract more industries to come and set up their businesses in Forest City”, Shawn added.
CIMB has worked with Country Garden since 2013 to support their banking needs and the opening of this branch represents an extension of the collaboration between both parties over the years.