South Korea’s major commercial bank Shinhan Bank said Friday it has opened four additional branches in Vietnam, including one in Da Nang, a popular vacationing destination for Koreans.

Shinhan Bank celebrated the opening at Hilton Da Nang hotel in Da Nang, attended by Jin Ok-dong, chief executive of Shinhan Bank, and some high-ranking officials from the Korean Embassy in Vietnam, Da Nang People`s Committee and The State of Bank Vietnam.

With six additions this year, the Korean bank now operates 36 outlets across Vietnam to command the biggest network among foreign lenders – 20 in southern cities like Ho Chi Minh, 15 in northern regions including Hanoi, and one in Da Nang, central Vietnam.

Shinhan Vietnam Bank located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. [Photo provided by Shinhan Bank]

Its outlet in Da Nang is the first Korean banking name in the most important port city, the bank added.

Shinhan Bank has kept up efforts to groom the Vietnamese operation as its business base for Southeast Asia. The head of Shinhan Bank Vietnam serves also as the regional head for the bank’s operations in Myanmar and Cambodia.

Vietnam has emerged as an ideal industrial base for Korean manufacturers and others as an alternative to China. Korean companies have been making fast inroads into the country and financial institutions have followed suit.

Last month, KEB Hana Bank signed a deal to acquire a 15 percent stake in state lender Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam, the Vietnamese largest bank by assets, for 1.02 trillion won ($874 million). The lender owned 95.3 percent by the country’s central bank posted 380.9 billion won in net profit and 66.3 trillion won in total assets on a consolidated basis at the end of last year.

By Lee Seung-hoon and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]