Thai banking giant keen to inject capital into Vietnamese market
VOV.VN - Kasikornbank (KBank), the second largest bank in Thailand, has unveiled plans to pour more than US$1 billion into Vietnam before 2027, in an attempt to tap into this lucrative market of more than 100 million consumers, recently announced Pipit Aneaknithi, president of KBank.
According to plan, the majority of the investment, approx. US$735 million, will be pumped into banking operations, while the remainder will be used for KBank's two subsidiaries in Vietnam, with US$336 million to be funneled into KVision investment fund and US$7 million into KBTG technology company.
Currently, KBank has a representative office in Hanoi along with a branch in Ho Chi Minh City which has been licensed to operate since 2021 with an initial charter capital of US$80 million.
In May 2023, the Thai bank increased its charter capital to US$285 million, becoming the foreign bank branch with the second highest charter capital in Vietnam.
Vietnam is viewed as KBank’s key development hub in the Southeast Asian region thanks to its outstanding advantages in terms of young population and the large number of engineering graduates that can help the country to engage more deeply in the global supply chain, said Aneaknithi.
Furthermore, the Government has also deployed drastic policies to accelerate economic growth and support local firms, he added.
The KBank representative revealed that with the increase of investment capital in the Vietnamese market, the Thai banking giant intends to target small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up more than 97% of enterprises in the country, but account for just 20% of the market share in the credit capital market structure.
By the end of this year the KBank branch in Ho Chi Minh City aims to disburse US$40 million for SMEs and business households via an online platform.
