On 4 March 2016, on behalf of the Union Government and the Central Bank of Myanmar, the Foreign Bank Licensing Committee announced its preliminary approval to prepare for commencement of banking operations in Myanmar to four foreign banks, including: BIDV (Vietnam), E.SUN Commercial Bank (Taiwan), Shinhan Bank (South Korea) and State Bank of India (India). BIDV was the first Vietnamese bank to be licensed to establish a bank branch in Myanmar.

​This is the second round of awarding licenses to foreign banks by the Government of Myanmar. Earlier, on 10 May 2014, the Government of Myanmar granted licenses to 9 foreign banks. The establishment of BIDV’s branch in Myanmar marks a milestone in the cooperation between banking sectors of the two countries.

According to the announcement, within 12 months from the date of the preliminary approval, BIDV should complete all procedures and conditions for banking operations as prescribed by the Central Bank of Myanmar. BIDV affirmed and pledged to meet all conditions attached to the preliminary approval to be officially licensed. BIDV plans to launch its branch in Myanmar in 2016. The branch will be located at Hoang Anh Gia Lai Complex in Yangon – the leading trade center in Myanmar.

In April 2010, following the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s directions, BIDV established its representative office in Myanmar and acted as the chair of the Association for Vietnamese Investors in Myanmar (AVIM). The representative office and AVIM have made positive contributions to economic, investment, trade and tourism cooperation between the two countries. They also consulted and shared experiences with the Government of Myanmar in economic reforms.

As the chair of AVIM, BIDV has been relentlessly supporting and promoting trade and investment programs of enterprises of the two countries. This lays a solid foundation for creating a stable customer base for BIDV’s business activities in Myanmar. So far, BIDV has established relationship with almost Vietnamese enterprises investing or having interest in the Myanmar market. BIDV also proactively established channels to regularly communicate with the Government, ministries and financial institutions in Myanmar (such as state-owned banks MFTB, MICB; SMIDB, or private bank KBZ).

Implementing the Joint Declaration between Vietnam and Myanmar on 12 priority areas of economic cooperation, the economic cooperation between the two countries over the past six years has seen breakthroughs. On investment, Vietnam’s total investment value in Myanmar increased 28 times during the 2010 – 2015 period. Number of projects increased from 2 in 2010 with total registered capital of USD23.65 million (ranked 22) to 08 in 2015 with a total registered capital of USD691.57 million (ranked 10). Trade turnover between the two countries increased 2.9 times from USD152 million (2010) to USD434.7 million (2015).

The economic cooperation between the two countries over the last two years, however, has shown signs of leveling off. Main reason was attributed to the lack of Vietnam’s banking operations in Myanmar. No Vietnam’s projects were licensed in Myanmar in 2014 and value of trade in 2015 reached only USD434.7 million compared with USD480.6 million of 2014.

Mr. Pham Thanh Dung, Vietnam's Ambassador to Myanmar commented: “The lack of Vietnamese bank operating in Myanmar was previously a major obstacle for Vietnamese enterprises to do business in Myanmar. Therefore, the establishment of BIDV’s branch in Myanmar will meet the needs of businesses, providing strong support to Vietnamese enterprises in their economic, investment, trade and tourism activities in Myanmar. BIDV’s branch in Myanmar will also help to lead and promote business and investment cooperation, especially the 12 economic areas outlined by the two governments”.

Mr. Tran Bac Ha, BIDV Chairman, said: “Following the direction of the Government and the State Bank of Vietnam, together with the support and facilitation of ministries and agencies over the past time, BIDV has been relentlessly determined to implement procedures to open a branch in Myanmar. BIDV has met all evaluation criteria for operation scale, financial capability, and risk management in accordance with international practices. BIDV also has capacity and experience in operating and managing banks and subsidiaries in overseas countries, as well as operating experience in Myanmar in the past 6 years, contributing to the economic development of Myanmar”.

“Following the successful implementation and experience in Laos and Cambodia markets over the years, BIDV branch in Myanmar will operate efficiently, providing modern banking products and services, accompanying and supporting Vietnamese enterprises in doing business in Myanmar, as well as contributing to the fulfillment of economic cooperation targets as agreed by the two governments”, Mr. Ha said.

Information about BIDV branch in Myanmar:

1. Full name: Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, Yangon Branch (BIDV Yangon).

2. Head office: Hoang Anh Gia Lai Complex, 192 KabarAye Pagoda Rd, Bahan, Yangon, Myanmar.

3. Initial capital size: USD85,000,000 (Eighty five million US dollars).

 

For more information, please contact:

Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC (BIDV)

Branding and Public Relations

Tel: +84.4.22205256;

Website: www.bidv.com.vn

 

TCBC_BIDV_so_11_nam_2016_Thong_bao_cua_NHNN_Myanmar.pdf