Kbank expects results in 1-2 yrs

Somkiat Sirichatchai, senior executive vice president of KBank, said yesterday that the bank would set up a representative office in the next one or two months now that it has been granted a licence from the Central Bank of Myanmar.

He said the office would initially provide transactional services to Thai enterprises doing business in Myanmar. Later on, the bank will consider setting up branches or seeking local bank partners. "We expect to see a clear picture of opportunities in Myanmar in a year or two," he said.

KBank currently cooperates with Myanmar’s Asia Green Development Bank to offer fund-transfer services to about 1.6 million Myanmar nationals working in Thailand who want to send money home.

Somkiat said KBank believed such link-ups would strengthen respective bank partners operating under the AEC. It already has strong partnership networks in all Asean countries except the Philippines and Brunei.

He said that apart from the opportunities in Myanmar, Indonesia and Cambodia offered great opportunities for trade flow in Asean.

In Cambodia, KBank has a partnership with Canadia Bank, while in Indonesia, KBank and Bank Central Asia recently signed a memorandum of understanding to create an expanded service network to prepare for the AEC. Indonesia is regarded as a high-potential market for Thai investors because of its large population, where medium-sized companies with annual sales of about Bt400 million are highly active.

Meanwhile, Cambodia will benefit from the international investors that want to exploit its low labour costs, and Thai companies are expected to be among the rush to set up production bases there after the Bt300 daily |minimum wage becomes fully effective at home.

To focus on banking services to clients, KBank will consider three elements. First is the volume of trade, second is the opportunities available to Thai companies in Asean, and third is the outlook for economic growth in each country in the bloc.

Somkiat said the AEC would pave the way for Thai exporters affected by the euro-zone crisis to shift their emphasis to Asean. The trade volumes in Asean will be more active, and the volume of financial loans at KBank in the region will be significant as well.

Banthoon Lamsam, chief executive officer of KBank, believes the government should quickly invest in infrastructure projects in terms of transport and telecommunications, while enhancing education and legislation.

Meanwhile, the government must set benchmarks for its infrastructure investment so the public and private sectors can be assured that this huge expenditure will help drive Thai economic competitiveness.

The veteran banker added that Thai companies that had strong capital and networks would benefit from the AEC more than small and medium-sized enterprises.

But whatever its size, each company must have a clear business direction to deal with the AEC, while banks have a role in providing advice as well as financial services.