HSBC to open five more local branches
HSBC to open five more local branches
JAKARTA (JP): Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation
(HSBC) Indonesia will open five new branches by mid next year to
tap the estimated higher growth in the country's future foreign
trade.
Public affairs manager Mia Korompis said of the five new
branches one would be in Bali's provincial capital of Denpasar
and two in both Jakarta and Surabaya.
"We are now working on the regulatory approvals," she said
during the bank's official launch of its newly installed Trade
Service Website in Indonesia.
It would take a period of between six to nine months to
complete all the preparations to open the new branch offices and
to make them effective operations, Mia added.
Head of Trade Services Dahlia Tarjoto said HSBC believed the
expansion would allow the Hong Kong-based bank to tap a surge in
the demand for trade finance services in the coming years.
She was upbeat the demand for such services would continue to
increase in the future, in line with the improvement in the
country's overall economic activities.
"We hope to increase our trade finance clients by 50 percent
next year," Dahlia said.
The size of total credit facilities extended to HSBC's trade
finance customers currently stood at some US$400 million, of
which $285 million was outstanding, according to Dahlia.
Trade finance credit facilities are extended to importers and
exporters. Importers use the facility to purchase their raw
materials overseas and exporters use it to obtain a bridging cash
payment before they receive payment on their exports.
"We provide trade finance facilities to a wide range of non
oil and gas industries in Indonesia such as those of textiles and
garments, shoes, furniture and various consumer goods," Dahlia
said.
The Trade Service Website provides trade customers with
information about trade products, regularly-updated economic
news, trade tutorials and other updated trade data.
The service is also available to the general public who use
the Internet. It provides trade education, such as tips to reduce
the risk of exports not being paid by their purchasers or
importers not receiving their designated goods due to
misshipment.
Trade finance service officer Antonius Sukriswanto said HSBC
would likely continue to pay more attention to trade finance in
the investment loan portfolio sector in the coming years
following the economic crisis.
He said the bank also had investment loans in its portfolio,
but their size was relatively insignificant.
HSBC, headquartered in London, has been in Indonesia since
1884 and currently has seven branch offices; two located in
Jakarta and the others in Surabaya, Medan, Bandung, Semarang and
Batam. (udi)