Chairman Sohn Tae-seung of Woori Financial Group joins other dignitaries in cutting the opening tape for Shinhan Bank’s branch in Da Nang, Vietnam, on Nov. 7. (Photo: WFG)

Woori Bank has opened a branch in Da Nang, Vietnam, further expanding its presence in the Southeast Asian country.

The opening on Oct. 25, which followed approval from the Vietnamese central bank a month earlier, is significant as financial authorities there began tightening rules in May to limit the number of foreign banks, Woori said. The branch will handle business including corporate, investment banking and syndicated loans.

Provided by a group of lenders, a syndicated loan is structured, arranged and administered by one or several commercial banks or investment banks.

“We will spare no efforts in investment and support to make our Vietnam operation the best foreign lender in the Southeast Asian country,” Woori Bank CEO Sohn Tae-seung said.

Woori will strengthen its retail business with locals through mobile services updated with features to improve the user experience, including easy-to-use customizable layouts and frequently used functions that can be enabled when customers shake their phones.

Other artificial intelligence-based credit check and lending services, set to boost non-face-to-face transactions, also will be available. Woori said three more branches will open - in Vinh Phuc, Ho Chi Minh City and Bien Hoa - by end of 2019, with five others to open by 2021.

“The enhanced service will help the bank boost its presence further in the country,” a Woori official said. “As market demand in Southeast Asia will grow in the coming years, we will continue to boost our services via closer cooperation to better compete there.”

Woori Bank’s assets in Vietnam stood at over $1 billion (1.28 trillion won) in June. Its lending jumped nearly twofold, from 291 billion won in 2017 to 517.4 billion in June 2019.

Woori Bank Vietnam reported a net profit of 2.4 billion won in 2017, only a year after it established its business there in 2016 with a net loss of 300 million won. Net profit was 10.7 billion won in 2018 and 10.1 billion won in the first nine months of this year.

Woori Bank wants to use its experience and know-how in taking over the Sodara Bank in Indonesia to other countries in Asia to improve and expand its operations.

Many countries in Asia still lack the know-how to operate the banking business, and therefore, for the new regions in those countries, the best way to enter banking is to start with nonbanking financial operations such as savings banks and installment financing to adapt local banking operations before turning them into a banking operation.

M&As with local financial institutions have been a better way to build a base for financial operations early and for localization in countries in Asia.

Woori Bank bought Cambodia’s small loan company called “Malis” in July last year and the bank plans to take over a savings bank and then turn it into a commercial bank in the Philippines, while the bank has been considering the same plan in Laos.

Woori Bank has a Korean desk in a Turkish bank in Budapest and the bank plans to do the same in Qatar by setting up a Korean desk in Qatar Islamic Bank after signing an MOU. The bank follows the same formula in Poland and Mexico.

Woori Bank plans to expand the number of branches at home and abroad from the current 185 to 300 under its medium-term strategy.

The strategy calls for building an Asian Belt from China through S.E Asia and the Middle East, so that it could emerge as a strong bank with an extensive network in those regions.

As stated in the founding purpose, currency circulation is the key to success of industries.

Woori Bank is to contribute to the development of the nation’s economy by providing support to corporations and SMEs.