A senior delegation of executives from Parex Banka, one of the top five financial institutions in Latvia, is in town this week to meet with their 21 Taiwanese peers and explore opportunities for future cooperation.
Parex Banka, a privately-owned entity, also hopes to promote its own investment funds in Taiwan and lure potential investors into the fast-growing Baltic region, Gene Zolotarev, the bank's global head of capital markets and investment banking, said at a press luncheon yesterday.
Its cooperation with local players started early this year when 11 Taiwanese banks cooperated with seven foreign institutions on a syndicated loan of 69.5 million euros (US$84 million) which was brokered by the Latvian bank. In July, seven local banks also took part in a loan involving 188.5 million euros, the bank said.
Angel Chen (陳怡秀), vice president of corporate banking at Chinatrust Commercial Bank (中國信託), said her company has been aggressive in diversifying its investment portfolios into markets outside Asia, where yields have dwindled due to fierce competition.
"As the credit rating of Parex Banka is quite good, we're very happy to cooperate with them," she said.
During their one-week trip, which ends tomorrow, the representatives were to meet with the Bankers' Association (銀行公會), the European Chamber of Commerce and officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with whom they were to discuss the lack of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
The delegation is led by Andris Berzinsh, deputy chairman of the bank's executive council and former Latvian prime minister.
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