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ACLEDA Bank expands service units
The first Cambodia-based commercial bank to operate in Laos, ACLEDA Bank Lao Ltd, is opening its first Borikhamxay provincial service unit today in Mixay village of Pakxan district.
The bank also opened a service unit in Phone village, Nongbok district, Khammuan province, on Wednesday, and will establish another in Donethalath village, Champassak district, Champassak province, on February 3, according to a report from the bank yesterday.
The report noted that the bank currently has 19 offices, including its headquarters, four branches and 14 service units in Vientiane and the provinces of Savannakhet, Champassak, Khammuan and Saravan.
As of June last year, the bank had only 10 service units in Laos.
The bank also plans to upgrade its two service units in Xaysettha and Chanthabouly districts of Vientiane into branches in the near future.
The bank's CEO and Managing Director, Mr Narin Phon, said in an interview last June that the Saravan service unit is also set to be upgraded to a branch in 2012, and the bank hopes to establish further service units and branches in the southern provinces in the following years.
The bank is also looking into opening service units and branches in the northern provinces by 2013 and 2014, in the hope of having a full complement in Laos by 2015.
By the end of December, the bank had about 454 staff, which is expected to rise to 500 to 600 employees this year. The target is to have almost 1,000 staff by 2013, and 1,300 to 1,500 staff by 2015.
The bank is reportedly thriving, projecting loans worth about US$27 million by 2013. As of last June, it already had US$27 million of loans on its books.
It had targeted US$14 million in deposit accounts for 2011, but by June already held over US$25 million in deposit accounts.
The bank has so far exceeded its targets because of the increasing number of small, medium and large sized enterprises that comprise its customers. Over 15,000 deposit accounts and over 12,900 families had taken out loans by last June.
As of that date, the bank had also disbursed loans worth over US$50.7 million since it opened for business in July 2008.
ACLEDA was established as a limited company and obtained a license as a commercial bank with total registered capital of 100 billion kip.
It had capital of 220 billion kip last year and will have 300 billion kip this year, which is in line with the Bank of the Lao PDR's directive to all commercial banks to increase their minimum capital.
Its shareholders are ACLEDA Bank Plc (Cambodia), International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) and the Netherlands' Development Finance Company, Triodos-Doen, and Triodos Fair Share Fund.
vientiane times
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