CIMB Thai, Positive Thinking Company partner to establish software development center

The Vietnam Software Development Center in Hanoi is expected to add powerful engineering expert resources and accelerate the digital journey of CIMB Thai, a member of CIMB Group.

"With the vision of becoming a digital-led bank with ASEAN reach, we look forward to the collaboration to help accelerate our ambitious digital evolution roadmap aimed at offering customers a best-in-class digital banking experience," said Paul Wong Chee Kin, President & CEO of CIMB Thai.

"The Vietnam Software Development Center in Hanoi will be the latest highlight in our fast-moving digital journey, joining existing digital hubs in Bangkok and Chiang Mai as a collective engine of excellence that will support our long-term digital aspirations.

Paul Wong Chee Kin, President & CEO of CIMB Thai (L) and Pieter van Diermen, CEO of Positive Thinking Company APAC at the partnership announcement event in Hanoi. Photo by Positive Thinking Company

The partnership will scale up digital resources and drive products and services across CIMB Thai’s offerings.

Pieter van Diermen, CEO of Positive Thinking Company APAC, a member of Collaboration Betters The World (CBTW) Group, said the strategic tech partnership would help CIMB Thai set up their first software development center in Vietnam, through the distinctive Build Operate Transfer (BOT) model of Positive Thinking Company.

"During our 20 years of experience in building custom software and product development centers in Vietnam, we have witnessed the local market grow an ever more talented pool of highly motivated and well-rounded software engineers," said Pieter van Diermen.

"The Vietnam Software Development Center will be a powerful addition to the current expert engineering teams of CIMB Thai and will make remarkable contributions to its inspiring digital journey."

The Vietnam Software Development Center kicks off with a team based in Hanoi. The team is working closely with the CIMB’s engineering teams in Thailand to deploy new features and enhancements on the CIMB Thai mobile banking application as well as other digital touchpoints.

The CIMB Thai and Positive Thinking Company teams in Hanoi. Photo by Positive Thinking Company

With an average of 55,000 new engineers graduating each year, Vietnam's software development sector is flourishing and becoming a major player in the worldwide software product engineering market.

Vietnam is also predicted to become the second-largest digital economy in Southeast Asia by 2025.

Through its scalable and cost-effective BOT model, Positive Thinking Company has established more than 15 software development centers in Vietnam to assist its global clients in accelerating their product roadmaps and digital transformation journeys.

Positive Thinking Company is a founding partner of Collaboration Betters The World, a global tech group and ecosystem with a global team of 4,000 tech talents. Its core expertises in APAC include software product engineering (developing web and mobile apps, enterprise apps, platforms & eCommerce) and the unique Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Model (building custom software and product development centers on behalf of global clients such as Atlassian, National Australia Bank, and many more).

CIMB Thai Bank Public Company Limited is driven by its vision to be a digital-led bank with ASEAN reach delivering wealth management, treasury, consumer banking, corporate banking and ASEAN-related products and services.

CIMB Group is a leading focused ASEAN bank and one of the region’s foremost corporate advisors. The group is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and offers consumer banking, commercial banking, investment banking, Islamic banking and asset management products and services.

The bank had around 33,000 staff and over 20 million customers as of the end of December 2022.