2:59:34 PM | 13/10/2008
Vietnam Business Forum interviewed Mr Thomas Tobin, General Director of HSBC Vietnam, when the bank obtained a licence to set up Vietnam’s first wholly foreign-owned bank.
Would you mind revealing your feeling when HSBC was licensed to set up the first wholly foreign-owned bank in Vietnam? What new operations will HSBC launch after the incorporation?
We are very proud when HSBC is one of the first foreign banks to obtain the licence. This is an important milestone in the Bank's 138 years of history in Vietnam. Local incorporation will allow us to have a broader distribution network, in addition to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, to reach existing and new customers, both corporate and individual. Then, we can continue to support the economic and financial development of Vietnam.
We continue to increase our participation in Vietnam's economy and financial markets. HSBC aims to start operating through our new local entity as early as possible and will actively work with authorities to complete the necessary business registration activities in the coming months. We hope to become the first foreign bank to operate a fully owned local entity in the fast-growing Vietnamese banking sector.
Besides, HSBC will improve its banking products and services. With its understanding of Vietnamese customs and culture, HSBC will bring advanced banking products and service to Vietnamese consumers like other markets in the world.
Some big banks in Vietnam are striving to become multifunctional financial groups. Does this bother HSBC? Will HSBC have cooperation with Vietnamese companies, banks, financial companies and insurers?
We appreciate the healthy competition on the market because we believe that it will make the financial industry more perfect and it is beneficial to customers.
With its long-term support for Vietnam’s economic development, we believe that HSBC has created an advantage on this market. The very special advantage of our long presence in Vietnam enables us to approach more opportunities and go along with the development of the Vietnamese economy.
HSBC’s development strategy in Vietnam is the two-side strategy: strengthening internal capacity and cooperating with Techcombank and Bao Viet. This strategy will not be changed after we form the new bank.
The strategic cooperation with Bao Viet and Techcombank enables us to bring higher value and more benefit for customers of both sides. For instance, customers of both HSBC and Techcombank can use more than 110 ATMs of HSBC and 250 ATMs of Techcombank. Regarding Bao Viet, we cooperated in distributing Bao Viet’s insurance products like house insurance, vehicle insurance, accidence insurance and cargo insurance at our branches and consolidate joint insurance services.
What do you think about the Vietnamese economy and financial sector two years after WTO entry?
In some 10 straight years, Vietnam’s GDP growth was above 7 per cent on average, especially at 8.44 per cent in 2007. Vietnam entered the year 2008 with high optimism and good prospects. Amid the impacts of the global economic slowdown, Vietnam encountered enormous difficulties such as the soaring price of oil products, foods and materials, galloping inflation and a widening trade deficit. The Vietnamese government quickly applied measures to rein in inflation and stabilise the market, and these measures are increasingly effective. From now to the year’s end, Vietnam will continue needing drastic measures to control inflation to obtain sustainable growth.
With respect to the financial and banking field, after Vietnam joined the WTO, the market is more positive and diversified with the presence of more foreign companies, which bring more cash to Vietnam. Within only one year, we witnessed many changes in the government’s policies toward market liberalisation. Foreign banks are allowed to take deeper part in Vietnam’s fast-growing economy and the operations of HSBC are clear evidence of that. The bank increased holdings to 20 per cent at Techcombank and received official licence to set up an affiliate in Vietnam in September 2008. This positive progress will lead to a wider network and create healthy competition.
Phan Thanh
Vietnamese
