CIMB expands ASEAN footprint
(6 December 2016 – Philippines) CIMB Group Holdings has revealed plans to open a branch in Manila in the second half of 2017 to complete its footprint in the ASEAN region.
Group Chief Executive Officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the group was awaiting approvals from Bank Negara Malaysia and the Philippine central bank for the licence.
“The plan is to open a branch (in Manila), unlike Vietnam where we have a subsidiary,” he told the Malaysian media in an interview.
The announcement comes as the group launched its Vietnam subsidiary.
The bank becomes the third Malaysian lender to set up operation in Vietnam following Public Bank and Hong Leong Bank.
The expansion is part of CIMB's Target 18 (T18) initiative, a strategic review exercise which started in January 2014, to complete its ASEAN platform.
Following nearly seven years of lobbying, in September, CIMB successfully acquired the first full fledge banking licence for a foreign bank to operate in Vietnam. The licence allows CIMB Vietnam to offer the full range of corporate, commercial and consumer banking products in the country.
So far, only seven foreign banks have been awarded a licence to operate a 100 percent banking subsidiary in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, Tengku Zafrul said the group would be focusing on three main areas, namely infrastructure, manufacturing, and oil and gas.
He said CIMB Group would leverage the strength of ASEAN companies which planned to tap into the Vietnamese market.
Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul said Vietnam would be a different ballgame where group aimed to focus on digital banking as 40 percent of the country's population were below 25 years and were comfortable with technology.
“Currently, 95 percent of the group's products are carried out through our digital platform,” he said.
CIMB is now present in nine out of 10 ASEAN nations. Beyond the bloc, it has market presence in China, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Korea, the US, and the UK.
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