Woori Bank - Illustrative image (Source: Internet) Hanoi (VNA) - Institutions from theRepublic of Korea (RoK) have increased their investments in Vietnam’s financialmarket significantly, expecting to make big gains thanks to the economic growthoutlook.
The investments are poured through the acquisition, capitalcontribution or comprehensive co-operation agreements with local financialcompanies and banks.
Besides the two fully foreign-owned Shinhan Bank and WooriBank in Vietnam, many other major RoK banks have also set up branches andrepresentative offices in the country, such as KEB Hana, Industrial Bank ofKorea, Kookmin, Busan and Nonghyup.
Early this month, the Hana Financial Group was the latestcase of the RoK’s financial institutions to expand business in Vietnam byacquiring a stake in the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV),according to Business Korea.
The Korean business portal quoted a local financialofficial that KEB Hana Bank was going forward with the acquisition and wasreportedly close to signing a deal.
The deal will proceed in a way that BIDV will raise newcapital through capital increase to improve its financial structure, and HanaBank will purchase the new shares. According to a source, the only remainingprocess is to receive the approval of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) while thework is being finalised.
Early this year, the SBV allowed RoK conglomerate LotteGroup’s credit card arm to take over TechcomFinance, a subsidiary of Techcombank.
With the deal, the Korean conglomerate seeks to expand itspresence in consumer credit and card services in Vietnam.
In January, the RoK’s Shinhan Card Co Ltd, a subsidiary ofthe Shinhan Financial Group (Shinhan), announced the acquiring of 100 percentstake of Prudential Vietnam Finance Company at a cost of 151 million USD.
Last year, Shinhan Bank Vietnam,a wholly owned unit of Shinhan Bank, also acquired the retail division of ANZin Vietnam.
Besides the acquisition and capital contribution toVietnamese financial institutions, Korean investors have also increased theirpresence in Vietnam’s financial market through comprehensive cooperation withlocal financial firms.
Last July, a major RoK bank, Daegu, announced the signingof a comprehensive cooperation agreement with Vietnam’s Orient Commercial JointStock Bank (OCB).
Nguyen Dinh Tung, General Director of OCB, said Daegu wouldsupport OCB in various areas, such as international money transfer, productdevelopment, SME services, training exchange programmes on risk management,information technology and product development in the RoK.
In mid-April, the Korea Development Bank (KDB) marked itspresence in Vietnam through a comprehensive cooperation agreement withBIDV.-VNA
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