[PHNOM PENH POST]
The first overseas branch of Saigon-Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank
(SHB) will officially launch in Phnom Penh today in its first bid to tap
neighbouring ASEAN economies.
It is the fifth Vietnamese bank and 34th commercial bank to compete in Cambodia’s banking sector.
Officials
said that despite there being too many commercial banks for the small
country, Cambodia’s financial sector still has more room to grow.
Experts, however, expressed concern over apparent overcrowding.
The
recent surge of bilateral trade and investments from Vietnam were the
two main reasons Vietnamese banks continued to enter the Cambodian
market, Tran Tu, commercial attaché for the Vietnam Trade Office in
Phnom Penh, said yesterday, adding that BIDC and Sacom Bank had already
found success here.
“All businessmen need to borrow money for business and project development and make any payments by the banks,” he said.
SHB’s business strategy included becoming a strong financial holding group in the region by 2015, SHB CEO Nguyễn Văn Lê said.
Yang
Chanthy, the human resource manager of Sacom Bank, which in November
2009 became the first Vietnamese bank in Cambodia, welcomed the new
player to the industry regardless.
“We’re not concerned because we’ve already stood here for years. We have a lot of clients that already know about us,” he said.
“Right
now, the industry is very competitive and has too many banks. But, with
good services and a wide range of products, we can provide to our
customers,” he said.
Chheng Kimlong, a lecturer of economics and
business at the University of Cambodia, said the recent surge of
commercial banks in the Kingdom’s small economy surpasses the total
demands from the industry.
“I am afraid that in the next four or
five years, the industry will be in trouble as some banks go bankrupt
and others pull out after they make a quick profit from us, thereby
giving a negative image of our industry,” he said.
“The NBC [National Bank of Cambodia] should have clear regulations to govern them.”
He added that the situation would likely improve in the medium to long term as Cambodia’s economy continues to grow.
“Later on, when the biggest ones come in, there will be some merging so that there is just the right number of branches.”
SHB
was first established in 1993, and has grown to include a chartered
capital of 4.82 billion dong (US$229.28 million) and total assets of
70.97 billion dong ($3.38 billion), with a head office in Hanoi and
nearly 200 branches and sub-branches in 25 provinces and cities
throughout Vietnam, according to its press release.
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