Bank of China to raise business operations in Cambodia: deputy-governor

PHNOM PENH, April 19 (Xinhua) -- The Bank of China is going to expand its business operations in Cambodia after it was launched here two years ago and seen rapid business growth, Zhu Shuming, visiting deputy governor of Bank of China, said Friday.

Speaking at a meeting with Chea Chanto, governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), Zhu thanked the NBC for supporting the presence of Bank of China-Phnom Penh Branch, saying that the bank has seen rapid business growth since it was officially launched here in May 2011 and opened its first sub- branch in December last year.

He said currently, the bank has started to make profits from its business operations and ranked the 7th largest bank in Cambodia.

"The bank's progress shows that Cambodia's banking sector still has much room to grow," he said, adding that the bank planned to increase its investment in Cambodia through opening more sub- branches.

He asked the NBC to support the bank in its business expansion plan.

Chea Chanto pledged support to the bank, saying that the presence of the Bank of China has largely contributed to developing Cambodian economy and strengthening the banking system.

He added that the Bank of China is playing a vital role in promoting trade and investment ties between Cambodia and China.

Earlier in the day, Zhu also met with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Keat Chhon in order to seek his support for the bank's business expansion plan.

At the meeting, Keat Chhon said Cambodia and China set a target last year to boost the bilateral trade volume to 5 billion U.S. dollars by 2017. In this sense, he asked the bank to lend more to trade sector in order to help the two countries achieve the goal.

He also urged the bank to focus on rice industry in terms of lending in order to help Cambodian government achieve the target of exporting 1 million tons of milled rice by 2015.

Bank of China is a state-owned public listed bank in China and is a leading commercial bank in the world.

Currently, Cambodia has 33 commercial banks, serving about 1.6 million borrowers and 1.9 million depositors, according to the NBC.

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