Three days after winning a licence to operate banking services in Myanmar, Shinhan Bank announced yesterday that it will open a branch in Myanmar next year, seeking to expand its presence in the Southeast Asian country as part of its global strategy to find new revenue sources.
South Korea’s most profitable lender said it aims to open its branch in Yangon in the first quarter of 2017.
Other bid-winning foreign banks are the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV), Taiwan’s E.SUN Commercial Bank and the State Bank of India.
The announcement came as Shinhan is strengthening its foothold in the region, including thriving business in Viet Nam. The bank has offered banking services to the people of Viet Nam since 1995. The bank is one of the largest foreign lenders in the country, along with HSBC.
Shinhan said Myanmar will play a crucial role in tapping deeper into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations market, adding that the country’s economy has grown more than 5 per cent every year since 2011. The nation’s gross domestic product expanded by 8.5 per cent in 2014, according to data from the World Bank. Its 2015 figure is not available yet.
Meanwhile, BIDV, which also received the approval of the Central Bank of Myanmar to open an office in Myanmar along with other three banks from Taiwan, South Korea and India, announced that it plans to open its new office in Myanmar in 2016.
It will be located at the Hoang Anh Gia Lai-Myanmar Centre. BIDV will be the first Vietnamese bank to open a branch in Myanmar.—
Source: Global New Light of Myanmar
