The State Bank of Vietnam has allowed the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) to open a representative office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for four years.
Last month, the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank (Sacombank) also inaugurated its Phnom Penh branch after opening one in Laos and a representative office in China.
By 2010, Sacombank will open two more transaction offices in Phnom Penh and branches in a number of Cambodian provinces between 2010 and 2011.
Other commercial banks, such as the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank), the Technical and Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (Techcombank) and the Asia Commercial Joint-Stock Bank (ACB) all have plans to expand their overseas operations.
Vietcombank has already opened a representative office in the US and intends to set up a money transfer company, making remittances from the US to Vietnam much more easier and convenient, said its Deputy General Director Nguyen Thu Ha.
For its part, Techcombank signed a trade border payment agreement with the International Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in April.
Meanwhile BIDV, in cooperation with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, organised an investment promotion campaign in five Northern provinces in Laos. The bank hopes to become the main place for Vietnamese enterprises to conduct their investment and trade activities in these areas.
According to financial analysts, the banks’ foreign-oriented strategy will help increase their market share while contributing to promoting trade exchanges between Vietnamese and foreign businesses./.