Illustrative image (Source: Internet) Seoul (VNA) – Banks of the Republic of Korea (RoK) are acceleratingefforts to capture business opportunity in Vietnam – a fast-growing market.
The country’s fourmajor banks, namely Shinhan, KB Kookmin, KEB Hana and Woori, reported a totalnet profit of 132 million USD from business in Vietnam last year.
Shinhan has ledefforts to establish a presence in Vietnam, entering the country in 1993. Itnow has 32 branches in Vietnam – the largest number among foreign banks in thecountry.
The bank generated96.6 billion won (81.7 million USD) in net profit in 2018, which was 26 percentof Shinhan's global net profit.
KB Kookmin Bank hastwo branches in Vietnam and Woori Bank nine.
The banks, whichmainly offer corporate loans, are seeking to expand into retail finance. Theyare also planning to increase the portion of Vietnamese customers, as they havemainly been tending to Korean customers there.
Meanwhile, KEB HanaBank said recently that it acquired 15 percent of the Bank for Investment andDevelopment of Vietnam (BIDV)'s shares, at a cost of 1.25 trillion won. BIDV isVietnam's largest bank by assets.
KEB Hana Bank'sinvestment is set to help expand its business into retail finance, as well asboost its digital banking and risk management capabilities.
It has two branches inVietnam ― one in Hanoi and the other in Ho Chi Minh.-VNA
VNA
