The Industrial Bank of Taiwan (IBT, 台灣工業銀行) inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Ho Chih Minh City yesterday with Vietnam's Sacombank to build a strategic partnership. The pact could pave the way to a joint venture.
“Both IBT and Sacombank are committed to building long-term and close business cooperation,” IBT said in a statement.
The banks will work on business referrals, including loans and securities brokerage and the development and promotion of financial products, the statement said.
“The cooperation may take the format of a joint venture or equity investment in Sacombank’s subsidiaries by IBT,” the statement said.
But the size of such a joint venture or equity investment in Sacombank — Vietnam’s second-largest private bank by assets — is pending negotiations by IBT chairman Kenneth Lo (駱錦明), who attended the signing ceremony, a bank public relations official said by telephone.
IBT was in talks with some other potential bank partners in Vietnam to determine the best way for the bank to both tap into the local market and meet the financial needs of Taiwanese businesses’ there, the official said.
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