Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀), the banking arm of Taiwan Cooperative Financial Holding Co. (合庫金), opened a representative office in Yangon, Myanmar Thursday, making the office the fifth foothold of the bank in the fast-growing Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) market.
The four other outlets in the ASEAN market consist of one branch located in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, two sub-branches located in Tuek Thla and Pur Senchey, also in Cambodia, and another branch located in Manila, the Philippines.
The bank said that the office in Yangon is expected to help the bank to extend its reach in the ASEAN market and take advantage of the market’s great growth potential. According to the bank, collectively, ASEAN is likely to become the fourth largest economy in the world by 2030, up from its current position in seventh place.
The Taiwanese bank said that as Myanmar is one of the pivotal points of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative, a development strategy and framework that focuses on expanding China’s influence throughout Eurasia, the ASEAN member country is expected to create many business opportunities.
Taiwan Cooperative Bank said that Myanmar boasts abundant labor resources and vast tracts of land, which have been drawing more and more Taiwanese investors to relocate their funds into the country.
Therefore, the bank said that the Yangon office will serve as a venue to collect data on market conditions and investment information in the ASEAN country and aims to provide assistance to Taiwanese firms operating in the country to capitalize on its growth.
The bank said that as it is well-experienced in providing financing at the grassroots level and to small and medium sized businesses in Taiwan, the Yangon office is expected to transfer these experiences to the Myanmar market.
Currently, Taiwan Cooperative Bank runs 15 overseas outlets with five in the ASEAN market, two in the United States, one in Belgium, one in Australia, five in China and one in Hong Kong.
Meanwhile, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said Thursday that it has issued the green light to Taiwan Cooperative Bank to open a branch in Changsha in China’s Hunan Province.
The bank at present operates four branches in Suzhou, Tianjin, and Fuzhou, and one representative office in Beijing.
The FSC said that, so far, no Taiwanese bank has set up a foothold in Hunan and the presence of Taiwan Cooperative Bank is expected to provide necessary services to Taiwanese firms operating in the province.
Source: Focus Taiwan
