Two Foreign Banks Expand Networks in HCM City
Vietnam’s strong growth and its commitments to opening up the banking-finance market upon its entry into the World Trade Organization have inspired two foreign banks to expand their operations in Ho Chi Minh City.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), a member of Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, opened its first branch in Ho Chi Minh City on June 5.
The branch with required paid-in capital of $15 million will especially target Japanese companies in Vietnam.
SMBC aims to be the leading foreign bank branch in Vietnam, meeting customer requirements as well as helping boost the country's economic development, said Isao Aramaki, general manager of the SMBC Ho Chi Minh City branch.
The bank has established relations with 50 leading Japanese companies in Vietnam.
SMBC is the third Japanese bank that has opened a branch in Vietnam following the Mizuho Corporate Bank and the Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ.
SMBC opened its representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in 1994 and its Hanoi representative office 10 years later.
In a similar move, the Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) will tomorrow inaugurate its Ho Chi Minh City branch together with its Hanoi branch.
SCB Ho Chi Minh City will aim at providing services for Vietnamese companies and exporters who are part of the supply chains of multinationals.
With chartered capital of $15 million, this British bank has doubled its capital in Vietnam to $30 million.
Standard Chartered has been present in Vietnam since 1904.
Last year, the bank became the first foreign bank that acquired a minority stake of 8.56 per cent in the Asia Commercial Bank (ACB).
STD, VNS
Vietnamese
