Thailand’s Bangkok Bank opened its third branch in Indonesia in Medan City in North Sumatra province.
President/Director of Bangkok Bank Chartsiri Sophonpanich said Medan is the third largest city of Indonesia. It is the bank’s third branch following Jakarta and Surabaya and the bank’s 26th branch overseas.
Mr Chartsiri said that to welcome the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015, Bangkok Bank sees the potential of Indonesia, thanks to its many natural resources and outstanding agricultural produces such as oil palm.
Large and small alike, Thai entrepreneurs are prepared for the expanding ASEAN market, which is an ample opportunity for business expansion and more fierce competition, he commented.
Indonesia’s Bangkok Bank branches could create the highest profits compared to other overseas branches, he said. Credit there has continued to expand from US$500 million, to US$750 million, and now to US$900 million in the past three years, while it is expected to increase to US$1 billion this year.
According to Mr Chartsiri, half of the bank’s customers are from Thailand and are large entrepreneurs in the agricultural, petrochemical and energy businesses. The quality of the credits are at the good level, he said. Non-performing loans (NPL) are lower than 2 per cent, while the bank is trying to make it lower than one per cent.
NPL levels for the banking industry in Indonesia is at 2.5-3 per cent.
So far, Bangkok Bank has maintained the portion of revenue growth from overseas branches at 15-18 per cent. It aims to strengthen itself by expanding it customer base both in Thailand and abroad.
