Woori Bank gets green light to open in Vietnam

Businesses based in the RoK are the largest source of foreign direct investment in Vietnam. Several large companies have set up major production bases in the Southeast Asian country to take advantage of its low-cost labour pool and free-trade agreements the nation has signed.

Samsung Electronics Co based out of the RoK is the largest single foreign investor in Vietnam, having opened up a large number of manufacturing facilities producing electronics and smartphones.

Woori Bank would be the second RoK bank to open a wholly unit in Vietnam, after Shinhan Financial Group Co. Currently four other foreign lenders are operating in Vietnam including Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, HSBC Holdings PLC and Standard Chartered PLC.

The SBVsaid W oori Bank would need to complete the necessary paperwork before receiving a license to open the division, adding that it has already tentatively approved a list of proposed executives for the unit.

The RoK is the third-largest trading partner of Vietnam, with trade totalling US$36.6 billion last year, an increase of 31.5% from the previous year, according to official data. Bilateral trade is expected to continue to rise thanks to the Vietnam-RoK free-trade agreement, which came into effect last December.