Bangkok--27 May--Bangkok Bank
Bangkok Bank has been granted permission by the Central Bank of Myanmar to open a branch in Yangon to provide financial services to foreign-invested companies and domestic banks. Bangkok Bank is honored to be the only Thai bank to receive a foreign bank branch license from Myanmar’s government. The new branch will play a key role in promoting and developing the local financial system to support the growth of high-potential businesses and industries, especially by connecting with Bangkok Bank’s international network to provide a full range of services to customers and investors doing business in Myanmar.
Bangkok Bank President Chartsiri Sophonpanich said the Central Bank of Myanmar has granted Bangkok Bank a foreign bank branch license and the Bank will open its Yangon branch on Tuesday, June 2, 2015. The branch will provide a full range of financial services covering deposits, business lending, trade services, transferring funds and foreign exchange services for foreign-invested companies and domestic banks in Myanmar in both foreign currencies and Myanmar Kyat. Bangkok Bank’s Yangon branch will be headed by Senior Vice President & Branch Manager Kanet Buranasin and Assistant Vice President & Marketing Manager Tossatis Rodprasert.
On October 1, 2014 Bangkok Bank was one of nine foreign banks, and the only Thai bank, to receive preliminary approval for a license to commence banking operations in Myanmar. It was chosen due to its qualifications and sound business plan. The terms of the license required the Bank to be ready to open the branch within one year. The subsequent preparation covered the branch fit-out, the installation of IT and business systems, personnel recruitment (including hiring local employees), as well as knowledge transfer and the development of local employees’ potential in terms of business systems and financial products. These preparations are now complete and the Yangon branch is ready to open.
Mr. Chartsiri added that the Yangon representative office, which opened 20 years ago in 1995, has played a major role in providing useful information and convenient services to customers interested in investing and doing business in Myanmar. The new branch will enable the Bank to greatly increase this level of support, with services that include savings, lending, trade finance, foreign currency exchange, domestic and international fund transfers, and basic commercial bank services to foreign-invested companies and domestic banks. At the same time the new branch will connect to Bangkok Bank’s international network to provide an even fuller range of services to customers doing business in Myanmar.
Bangkok Bank will also be active in other areas of Myanmar society, added Mr. Chartsiri. Yangon branch will also participate in promoting and developing Myanmar’s financial system, including the development of the interbank and foreign-exchange markets, to promote the growth of business and industry. Furthermore, in order to support Myanmar’s sustainable development, the Bank will host seminars and events to provide economic and business knowledge to corporate and SME customers; will support education, especially curriculum development for economics and business-administration faculties; promote knowledge exchange with banks in Myanmar; and support network-building and business matchmaking between potential customers to enable future collaboration.
A recent Myanmar initiative by Bangkok Bank is the ‘Idea Can Do’ TV series to promote and support SMEs, which follows the same concept and format of the Bank’s ‘Puan Koo Kit’ TV feature program in Thailand. ‘Idea Can Do’ airs on the popular news-talk program ‘Good Morning Myanmar’ on Channel 7 in Myanmar.
The Bank is committed to being ‘puan koo kit mit koo baan’ (a trusted partner and reliable close friend) to help customers achieve success. The Bank is always looking for opportunities for its customers and providing them with a full range of services to meet their needs. This includes Thai and foreign investors and businesses in the industrial, agricultural and service sectors. The Bank is also continually expanding its services to reach customers’ trade partners using its well-established international network, which from June 2 will comprise 30 branches in 14 economies worldwide, serviced by local staff with extensive experience of their domestic markets and strong relationships and expertise. This enables the Bank to link investors, financiers and entrepreneurs as trade partners and help customers across all sectors to grow and be ready for opportunities and challenges.