CTBC Bank Co Ltd (中國信託銀行), the nation’s largest issuer of credit cards, yesterday announced the opening of a representative office in Kuala Lumpur after gaining the approval of the Malaysian central bank in May.
The new office is the first in Malaysia by a Taiwanese bank in 17 years, and it is expected to serve more than 1,700 Taiwanese companies operating in the country, CTBC Bank, the main subsidiary of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中國信託金控), said in a statement.
Since 2010, the Malaysian government has markedly eased regulatory hurdles for foreign investment in the country’s financial sector, the lender said.
Photo: Courtesy of CTBC Bank
After registering annual growth of 6 percent last year, Malaysia’s economy is estimated to continue expanding at between 5 percent and 5.5 percent this year, CTBC Bank said.
Bright investment prospects in Malaysia also helped boost its participation in both the US-led Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, in which Beijing is the key driver, CTBC Bank added.
CTBC Bank said that its coverage of overseas markets is expected to reach 106 percent by the end of this year.
In related news, the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, the second-largest bank by assets in the Southeast Asian nation, yesterday held a ceremony marking the opening of its first representative office in Taipei.
The move is poised to accelerate merger and acquisition efforts among banks across Southeast Asian nations, Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman William Tseng (曾銘宗) said during his speech at the event.
Vietnam’s GDP growth this year is expected to reach 6.48 percent, faster than last year’s 5.98 percent, making it attractive to foreign capital, said Tseng, who has been nominated as a legislator-at-large candidate in the Jan. 16 elections for the ruling Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT).
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