The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has been granted a licence by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) to open a branch in Yangon City. — Photo vneconomy.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — The Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has been granted a licence by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) to open a branch in Yangon City.

The licence came after the preliminary approval was announced nearly four months ago.

The bank said its Yangon branch had initial capital of US$85 million. BIDV Yangon plans to have minimum total assets of $300 million after three years of operation and expects to rank among the top five foreign banks in Myanmar.

BIDV established its representative office in Myanmar in April 2010 as part of efforts to realise the Vietnam-Myanmar Joint Statement on cooperation in 12 prioritised areas, including finance and banking.

Since then, BIDV has been expanding its operations in Myanmar through its role as the chair of the Association of Vietnamese Investors in Myanmar (AVIM), the opening of a representative office of BIDV Insurance Company and the establishment of BIDV Myanmar Finance Company.

The opening of BIDV Yangon marks the lender's increased participation in Myanmar's financial and banking market and falls in line with its strategy on market diversification and promotion of growth in key regional markets.

In the coming period, the bank will focus on providing modern banking products and services to Myanmar's enterprises and foreign firms in the country, especially those from Viet Nam and countries with close links to Myanmar, such as Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan (China).

Over the past six years, BIDV has played a significant role in boosting Vietnam-Myanmar cooperation in investment, trade and tourism.

As the chair of AVIM, BIDV arranged a series of fact-finding tours for Vietnamese entrepreneurs to learn about Myanmar's market and organised workshops and forums to promote links between the two sides' enterprises.

It also worked with the governments and relevant agencies of Viet Nam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to organise the forum "Four countries, one destination" to foster tourism and banking cooperation among the four countries. — VNS