BBL expects to boost Mashill's operations

JAKARTA (JP): Belgium's Bank Brussels Lambert (BBL) said yesterday its newly formed strategic alliance with Bank Mashill would boost the retail banking and credit card services of its Indonesian partner.

BBL's chief representative in Indonesia, Erik Versavel, said his bank would help Bank Mashill compete in the fast growing retail banking and credit card market.

"We have managed to compete in a very competitive market globally, and we believe that our alliance will form a strong banking synergy in the country," Versavel said.

He said he was optimistic that the cooperation would add value to Bank Mashill based on Brussels' technology edge and experienced management skill.

He did not say what BBL's next project with Bank Mashill after the alliance would be.

"We are now in the process of assessing all the possibilities of our synergy before we can take the next step," he said.

"We want to explore the capital market, retail banking, on shore and offshore loans, trade finance, technology and automatization," he said.

Last week, BBL, the third largest bank in Belgium, bought a 10 percent stake, or 18.5 million shares, in Bank Mashill.

The purchase allows the Belgian bank to form a strategic alliance with Bank Mashill.

Versavel said the cooperation was part of the company's expansion of its networks in Asia.

He said the bank chose Bank Mashill because of its strong business plan and management.

The bank was recently ranked by InfoBank magazine as the country's best bank, with assets over Rp 1.65 trillion (US$676.22).

Bank Mashill, listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange, has a network of 35 branches in Indonesia's seven major cities.

The bank focuses on financing the trade, industry, and service sectors. It also provides services such as motorcycle loans, credit cards and home mortgages.

Versavel said the growth and potential of Indonesia's gross domestic product, its population and the growth of the middle class prompted BBL's decision to expand its operation in the country.

Bank Brussels is one of the world's top 100 banks.

Last year it booked a net profit of US$300 billion, up from about US$255 in 1995.

The bank's assets rose to US$100 billion last year from about US$92.14 billion in 1995. (das)