The ExportImport Bank of Thailand (EXIM Thailand) is seeking the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s support to establish its first representative office in Vietnam.
During a meeting with the SBV’s deputy Governor Doan Thai Son on Tuesday, Warangkana Wongkhaluang, vice President of EXIM Thailand, said her bank wanted to open the office in Vietnam to boost its operations in the country.
At the meeting, Son said seven Thai credit institutions already have branches or representative offices in Vietnam, noting that the presence of Thai banks in the country had contributed to the development of the local banking system and helped promote economic, trade and investment relations between Vietnam and Thailand.
In recent years, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has continued to develop and achieve positive results, Son said, adding that Thailand is currently Vietnam’s largest trading partner within in Asean while Vietnam was Thailand’s second largest trading partner and Thailand was among the 10 largest sources of foreign investment in Vietnam.
Many foreign banks in Vietnam have also expanded their transaction networks and increased their charter capital in recent years in a bid to increase market share, especially in the retail banking sector. Last year alone saw the total assets of joint venture banks and wholly foreign-owned banks in Vietnam surge sharply by up to 19.12 per cent to VND1.13 quadrillion (US$48.50 billion), an SBV report showed.
ANZ, Hong Leong, HSBC, ShinHan, Standard Chartered, CIMB, Public Bank Berhad, Woori Bank and United Overseas Bank Limited have opened wholly foreign-owned banks in Vietnam.
According to experts, more foreign banks are expected to enter Vietnam’s market, which has major potential with a population of nearly 100 million.
They said that Vietnamese banks needed to operate on a larger scale with huge investments in technology and products through consolidation and mergers to create stronger institutions that could compete with foreign banks.
By 2020, in accordance with commitments to the World Trade Organisation, Vietnam will have to completely open the doors to its banking sector.
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