Date: February 8, 2010

Bangkok Bank Plc. (BBL) Senior Executive Vice President Prasong Uthaisangchai has shown the strategies of BBL in conducting businesses in foreign countries, saying that BBL is set to invest in China after being granted the full license to operate local bank.  

Now, BBL has four branches in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, and Xiamen in China. BBL is set to open a new branch and is considering two cities, Tianjin and Zuzhou, as the location. It is expected that the conclusion will be reached in September and then the new branch can be opened in the same month.  

Mr. Prasong said that Bangkok Bank in China has authorized capital of 20 billion Baht, total assets of 70 billion Baht, outstanding credits of 33 billion Baht, and personnel of 220 staff.

This year, the bank in China plans to double loan approval or for not less than 33 billion Baht. Therefore, the amount of outstanding credits will become 66 billion Baht by the end of this year. Major clients of the bank are Taiwanese investors investing in China, whereas only 15% are Thais and the rest are Hong Kong people and Singaporean.

Deputy managing director of Kasikorn Bank Plc. (KBANK) Pipit Aneknithi  said that China is a big market with rapid growth. In particular, the market of SMEs credit see only a few competitors and many entrepreneurs cannot find the access to capital sources in spite of their high demand because most banks in China emphasize on providing for big companies.

Therefore, KBANK in China aims that the amount of loan will grow to three billion Baht this year, compared with last year’s one billion Baht.    

At present, KBANK has one branch in Shenzhen and three agencies in Beijing, Shanghai, and Kunming where 80% of officers are Chinese and 20% are Thai. KBANK is asking to raise capital for 500 million Yuan so that authorized capital will be one billion Yuan.