Foreign financial institutions fare well this year

Foreign-invested financial institutions and foreign banks’ branches in Vietnam continued to reap a good year in 2007 as they recorded an 8 percent increase in their total assets to reach VND215 trillion.

Representatives of these institutions reported the result to the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) during their meeting in Hanoi recently.

The SBV said it considered foreign financial institutions as active factors in supporting the Vietnamese banking system to grow in a healthy and sustainable manner.

It also said foreign institutions have helped foster the linkage between foreign investors and Vietnamese businesspeople.

There are 35 branches of foreign banks, five joint venture banks, four foreign-invested financial leasing companies and two foreign-owned financial companies operating in Vietnam.

Experts predicted that the number of foreign financial institutions in Vietnam would increase in the coming time as the country has gradually opened its banking market in line with its commitments to the World Trade Organisation.