Bangkok--12 Mar--KASIKORNBANK
KASIKORNBANK has opened two representative offices in Vietnam’s Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City to support trade and investment expansion of Thai companies in the country. Through KBank’s partnerships with leading local banks, market insights and business networks connecting Thai businesses with corporations in Vietnam and other ASEAN countries will also be offered.
According to KASIKORNBANK President Mr. Predee Daochai, Vietnam is one of the most important investment magnets among Thai and foreign investors, given the country’s ample labor force with diligence, patience, and a positive attitude towards self-development. While Vietnam is a great source of raw materials, the country is also home to more than 90 million consumers, a high-growth potential market. Since 2011, KBank has created service network partnerships with Vietnam’s two leading commercial banks, i.e., the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) and the Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank).
KBank’s opening of two new representative offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City aims to enhance flexibility in taking care of corporate customers who wish to expand their market in the country. Among the main target customers are Thai companies that want to grow their trade and investment in Vietnam, as well as Chinese, Japanese and South Korean firms that intend to boost their international trade there.
Both representative offices will aid in cooperation between KBank headquarters and Thai corporate customers in Vietnam, supervise investment projects financed by the Bank, facilitate market research insights to support customers’ business planning, support trade and investment activities between the two countries, assist Vietnamese exporters in accessing the ASEAN market through international business networks, and offer transaction services to Thai SMEs through VietinBank, a partner bank of KBank and a leading bank in Vietnam with 147 outlets nationwide.
Mr. Predee added that KBank’s outstanding strength is its leading role in serving Thai SME businesses, therefore having a better understanding of Thai companies and being geared up to provide financial facilities as well as advisory service for Thai SMEs that intend to establish a presence in Vietnam. KBank also stands ready to offer advisory service for Vietnamese SME entrepreneurs which are part of supply chains of the Bank’s Thai, Chinese, Japanese and South Korean corporate customers.
Under the AEC+3 (ASEAN plus China, Japan and South Korea) strategy, KBank has built business connectivity throughout ASEAN via establishment of local banks, branches and representative offices, while having partnerships with 66 leading banks in China, Japan, South Korea and ASEAN, under the Bangkok Declaration agreement signed in November 2014 that has led to business cooperation among top banks in AEC+ as well as customer referral and business matching among institutions under the agreement. KBank is planning to upgrade representative offices to branches if allowed by the Vietnamese authorities, which will enable the Bank to offer a greater scope of financial services and support to Vietnamese SMEs.
According to 2013 data of the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, Vietnam’s trade with ASEAN, Thailand, China and Japan rose significantly at 9.6 percent, 14.8 percent, 17.6 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. Thai businesses with potential in the Vietnamese market include retail trade, construction and tourism-related industries, while our key exports to Vietnam comprise raw materials and intermediate products, e.g., refined oil, plastic resin, chemical products, automobiles, and auto parts and components.
At present, KBank has 14 outlets in AEC+3 and elsewhere: one local bank in Lao PDR; six branches, namely the Shenzhen Branch, Longgang Sub-Branch, Chengdu Branch, Hong Kong Branch, Los Angeles International Branch, and Cayman Islands Branch; and seven representative offices, i.e., the Beijing Representative Office, Shanghai Representative Office, Kunming Representative Office, Yangon Representative Office, Hanoi Representative Office, Ho Chi Minh City Representative Office, and Tokyo Representative Office. Within 2015, KBank is planning to open a branch in Phnom Penh and a representative office in Jakarta.