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Phongsavanh Bank and Agribank extend frontier cooperation
The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on extended banking business cooperation with Phongsavanh Bank on Wednesday in Vientiane.
The objective of the agreement is to provide banking services to promote trade payments, investments and financial transactions in the Dan Savanh-Lao Bao shared border area between Laos and Vietnam.
“This cooperation will mean additional services in the future such as ATMs and credit cards facilities for customers in both Laos and Vietnam,” Phongsavanh Bank Deputy Managing Director Mr Bounthanh Vongsoury said at the signing ceremony.
The banks will work together to offer financial services to facilitate Vietnamese companies engaged in investment projects or operating businesses in Laos.
The banks will also provide money transfer for Lao students and people living in Vietnam. “In the near future, money transaction fees will be cheaper for students,” Mr Bounthanh said.
Both banks built on their business relationship by signing a cooperation agreement on cross-border payments in June 2008 and started implementing services in February 2009.
The two parties signed to extend the cooperation because they have seen the increasing demand for services in the border area, particularly amongst business people involved in import and export and also for currency exchange services.
Agribank Deputy General Director Mr Nguyen Tien Dong said Agribank is the largest bank in Vietnam with current total assets of over US$27 billion and 2,300 intranet-connected branches and transaction centres.
It has more than 20 years of development, playing a central role in Vietnam's financial market, especially in the rural areas.
It currently has 10 million customers involved in farming and several thousand corporate customers, according to a press release.
The cooperation between the two banks has benefitted customers in both countries. In October this year, total annual cross-border turnover in the Dan Savanh-Lao Bao area reached more than US$4 million, according to the press release.
Through the MoU, the two parties will together find solutions to promote cross-border activities and share experiences.
Phongsavanh Bank, which opened in Vientiane in March 2007, is a private licensed bank.
As of June the bank had 150,000 account and loan customers, including both small and medium sized enterprises. It expects to have an additional 50,000 customers within the next two years.
The bank plans to issue loans to 20,000 households per year with financial resources of not less than 200 billion kip per year, which will serve to ease the daily cost of living for soldiers, police officers and others.
vientiane times
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