Thu, Dec 07, 2006 - Page 11 News List

First Bank planning expansion

First Bank was named Bank of the Year 2006 in Taiwan by British magazine 'The Bankers' last month. It is the first state-controlled lender to win such an honor. Michael Chang, chairman of parent company First Financial Holding Co, talked with 'Taipei Times' staff reporter Amber Chung and other reporters yesterday and gave an outline of the bank's future development.

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We are also planning to get a foothold in Canada and India in the future. We have just sent two people to conduct an on-site evaluation in Mumbai and Delhi in India. Our US subsidiary is opening more branches next year on the top of the current five outlets across the country.

Our expansion of overseas networks is tied to providing our Taiwanese corporate clients with global financial services. We have seen decent returns from our overseas operations -- income increased 25.63 percent this year over last year.

Q: Since the bank has set up a representative office in Shanghai, what is your blueprint for China's market?

Chang: We do have a plan for the Greater Chinese markets that comprises Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam, and have identified hundreds of key customers to be closely tracked in order to boost our business in this aspect.

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