Vietnamese financial operators to raise investment value in Laos
Vietnamese financial operators to raise investment value in Laos
A major foreign financial services operator, Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV), expects its investment value in Laos will keep increasing after experiencing growth in business operations.
“So far we have total investment value of about 377.2 billion kip (US$47.15 million) in Laos. We expect to increase the value up to around 429.2 billion kip (US$53.65 million) by the end of this year,” BIDV’s Senior Executive Vice President, Mr Quach Hung Hiep, said recently in Vietnam.
“We also hope to enlarge the value up to about 533.2 billion kip (US$66.65 million) next year,” he said during a visit by Lao reporters as part of a media cooperation and development project between Laos and Vietnam last week.
BIDV’s business operations in Laos include Lao Viet Bank (LVB) and Lao Viet Insurance Company (LVI).
The LVB was established in 1999 with an initial registered capital of about 80 billion kip (US$10 million), with a 50 percent stake held by BIDV and the remaining 50 percent by Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL).
In December 2012, LVB increased its registered capital to about 560 billion kip (US$70 million), with BIDV holding 65 percent of the shares.
It also expects to enlarge the registered capital to about 640 billion kip (US$80 million) this year and to continue improving to around 800 billion kip (US$100 million) next year.
By the end of June, LVB had a total asset value of more than 4.74 trillion kip (US$593 million), a 56-fold increase when comparing to the initial investment in 1999.
It had over 3.73 trillion kip (US$467 million) held in deposit accounts in June while loan disbursements exceeded 2.93 trillion kip (US$367 million).
The LVI, an insurance joint venture between BIDV Insurance Company (BIC) and BCEL, was established in 2008 with a registered capital of 24 billion kip (US$3 million), including 65 percent held by BIC.
By the end of July, LVI had generated income of more than 43.2 billion kip (US$5.4 million), including profits before tax payments of about 6.4 trillion kip (US$800,000).
vientiane times
