
Hanoi (VNA) –Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked the Vietnam Joint Stock CommercialBank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) to boost its transparency, financialpotential and management capacity in line with international standards.
At a ceremony held in Hanoion November 11 to celebrate VietinBank’s 30 years of construction anddevelopment, PM Phuc also suggested the bank invest more in research anddevelopment (R&D) and human resources, and enhance the quality anddiversify financial-banking services to meet customers’ demand.
The government leaderpraised VietinBank’s achievements over the past three decades and recommendedit continue making efforts for self-improvement.
He took this occasion to urgethe entire banking sector to ensure its lending capacity for important fieldsof the national economy like agriculture, high-tech industry, export, andsupporting industry, while backing the development of startups and small- andmedium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Governor of the State Bankof Vietnam Le Minh Hung said the most important goal set for VietinBank towards2020 is to become the biggest and most effective bank in Vietnam and is able tocompete with major banks in the region.
Le Duc Tho, Chairman ofVietinBank’s Board of Directors, said the bank will continue its restructuringprocess to diversify its business operations, promote its core values as wellas boost quality, competitiveness, and IT application.
On the occasion, PM Phucpresented to the bank the government's first-class Labour Order and emulationflag.
Founded as a small state-runorganisation in 1988, VietinBank has grown strongly and now is operating sevensubsidiaries, 155 branches, and nearly 1,000 transaction offices nationwide. Ithas established two branches in Germany, one fully-funded bank in Laos and onerepresentative office in Myanmar.
From 718 billion VND (30.78million USD) in its early days, the bank’s total assets increased by 1,500times to hit 1.1 quadrillion VND (47.16 billion USD) in 2017. The same year,its outstanding loans reached 840 trillion VND (36 billion USD), about 1,400times higher than that recorded in its establishment period. Its annual pre-taxprofits, meanwhile, grew 22 percent on average.
During the past threedecades, the bank contributed nearly 37 trillion VND (1.59 billion USD) to theState budget and more than 7 trillion VND (301 million USD) to charity andsocial welfare activities.-VNA