ICBC Asia sees APAC expansion
(5 April 2016 – Asia) The offshore arm of Chinese lender, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) expects to expand its regional business.
ICBC Asia’s chairman, Chen Aiping told South China Morning Press “Twenty per cent of ICBC Asia’s net profit is forecast to come from its Asia-Pacific business in 2018.
“We will give priority to develop the areas where our parent company ICBC has branches, including Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East,” he said.
The lender has financed around HK$20 billion (A$3.4 billion) worth of projects, with major investments in India, Thailand and Australia. The bank has focussed on infrastructure and merger and acquisition deals prior to its official Asia-Pacific launch on 1 April
ICBC Asia is to focus on the asset development business and participate in large-scale Asia-Pacific financing projects implementing the “belt and road” initiative, including merger and acquisitions and loan syndications, Chen added.
Although ICBC Asia operates traditional banking services, Chen has indicated that it has plans to offer asset management services to High Net Wealth Individuals based in the Middle East. Additionally, Chen said the bank will target emerging countries in Africa and Asia with foreign exchange reserve management service offerings.
“ICBC Asia is striving to create new profit drivers,” said Chen.
“Creativity is the priority to help develop the city’s stock, bond and currency markets in order to strengthen Hong Kong,” he added.
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