Maybank opens first branch in Laos
Maybank opens first branch in Laos
The Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak, this week officially opened the Maybank Lao branch in Vientiane, which marked the completion of the Group's footprint in all the 10 AS EAN nations.
Among those also present at the event were the Lao Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Asang Laoly; Lao Finance Minister, Mr Phouphet Khamphounvong; Bank of the Lao PDR Governor, Mr Somphao Phaysith; Malaysian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Senator, Mr A Kohilan Pillay; Malaysian Ambassador to Laos, Dato' Than Tai Hingas; and Maybank President & CEO, Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid Omar.
The Maybank Lao branch is located on Lane Xang Avenue in Chanthabouly district, in the main financial centre of the capital city of Vientiane.
It will offer a full range of banking services including retail and business banking, foreign exchange, remittances, treasury services as well as ATMs. The retail product offerings will include mortgages, personal loans, vehicle financing and credit cards.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, Dato' Sri Abdul Wahid expressed Maybank's gratitude to the Lao government and the Bank of the Lao PDR for the opportunity to operate in Laos. He added that the opening of the Maybank Lao branch was of special significance to the Group.
“For us at Maybank, we regard Asean as our home market and before the opening the Lao branch, we had a physical presence in nine Asean countries,” he explained.
“With the opening of the Maybank Lao branch, we will therefore complete our physical presence across all 10 Asean countries. This is significant as we are now able to support our regional customers as they expand their operations across Asean.”
He noted that Laos is already the fastest growing economy in Asean. “We believe that with our presence in Laos, we will be able to facilitate greater intra Asean trade and investment. With our more than 50 years of experience, we take pride in offering best in class financing solutions and products that are tailor-made to our clients' requirements for SME s and large businesses alike.”
Dato' Sri Wahid added that in order to operate effectively, Maybank did not intend for this branch to be its only one in Lao s. “It is our hope that we will be allowed to expand and open more branches here in Vientiane and in other cities.”
Expressing Maybank's long term commitment to Laos, he added “Our commitment goes beyond the initial capital of 100 billion kip. We are also helping to build the country's talent pool through our employment and training opportunities across the region. In short, we at Maybank are committed here in Laos for the long haul.”
Maybank will offer customers in Laos a full range of banking facilities as well as the benefit of its international network which now covers more than 2,200 offices in 20 countries.
With total assets exceeding US$150 billion and total shareholders' equity of US$12 billion, Maybank is the largest financial services group in Malaysia and also one of the largest in Southeast Asia. It has a market capitalisation of US$25 billion, and is the most valuable company listed on Bursa Malaysia and one of the top four in Southeast Asia.
vientiane times
