The Myanmar Times sits down with Maybank’s John Wong

John Wong currently holds the position of managing director, head of transaction banking, global wholesale banking at Malaysia’s Maybank. Mr Wong is responsible for both the domestic as well as regional transaction banking business, with a strong focus on ASEAN and Greater China. He oversees cash management, trade finance, financial institutions, custody services, trustees and factoring solutions.


When did Maybank first open a representative office in Yangon?

We opened our representative office in Yangon on April 11, 1995.

What services does it provide? And how many clients does it service?

Under the Representative License granted by the Central Bank of Myanmar, our role is to act as a liaison for Maybank Group’s operations worldwide and to promote trade and investment flows. In addition to that we also provide advisory services to Maybank customers who are interested to invest or conduct business in Myanmar.

Maybank began offering money transfers from Malaysia to Myanmar in March. How successful has this program been? How many clients have used this service to send money back to Myanmar?

Initially, the remittance to Myanmar started with only four banks in July 2012. Subsequently, more banks from Myanmar came onboard and partnered with us. Since then, Maybank has handled over 4,000 transactions with a total value of more than US$8 million. We are seeing an increasing trend in number and volume of transactions every month.

How much does Maybank charge for this service?

Currently Maybank charges RM10 per successful transaction. This is the normal transaction fee that we charge for this service everywhere we are. This is also comparable to what other banks would have charged their counterparties.

Maybank is working with four domestic banks to offer this service – Asia Green Development Bank, Co-Operative Bank, Ayeyarwady Bank and Kanbawza: How effective have these banks proven as partners?  

These banks are very supportive and the service is provided promptly by them to ensure that beneficiaries receive their funds timely. We are working closely with these banks to continue improve our combined service quality.

What are Maybank’s plans for the future in Myanmar?

Maybank is keen to set up our banking operations and offer banking services as soon as foreign owned banks are permitted to do so by the Central Bank of Myanmar.

Maybank, with our presence in all the ASEAN countries, is ready to support the demand from our clients and investors who have businesses or are exploring investment opportunities in Myanmar.

We believe being an ASEAN focused bank, we have a lot to offer to help the country’s economic development as well as the development of the banking market and the capital market in the near future.

What makes Maybank stand out from the other 16 representative banks in Myanmar?

The most important differential factor is the fact that we are an ASEAN bank focused primarily in the ASEAN region. Our objective within ASEAN is to have a meaningful presence within each of the country in the region in such a way that allows us to participate in the local community which is consistent with our mission to humanize banking. We are very cognizant that while banking is a business of collecting and mobilizing deposits in a responsible and prudent manner, it is ultimately a business about people and about the community.

While waiting for such opportunity, we continue to support the government’s effort to promote inflow of remittances through banking channels. In that space, Maybank is one of the first to work with local banks promoting such services.

We will continue to work alongside the local banks to help promote Myanmar in international banking through acceptance, negotiation and discounting of their Letters of Credit.

What steps does the bank plan to take to boost its profile in Myanmar?

Maybank will continue to be an agent to promote Myanmar’s trade and investment through regular participation in seminars conducted in Myanmar as well as those held overseas.

With the recent opening of our branch in Laos, the Maybank Group has completed its presence across all 10 ASEAN countries. We are now able to support our regional customers as they expand their operations across ASEAN and also facilitate greater intra ASEAN trade and investment.

As part of our corporate responsibility, Maybank will continue to support the Central Bank of Myanmar by sponsoring seminars and engaging experts to share their knowledge with a view to further share and enhance skills and capabilities with the relevant people.

What does Maybank think the next step will be in terms of Myanmar’s banking development?

At the 2012 Tokyo Annual Meeting of the IMF and World Bank, Central Bank of Myanmar was quoted as saying that they will be adopting the 3-phase approach under the Banking Sector Development Strategy; permitting Myanmar Private Banks to form partnerships with foreign banks, to be followed with the phase of allowing foreign banks to establish locally incorporated 100 percent owned subsidiary and eventually granting these banks full branch licenses. We believe this is a step towards the right direction and we hope that the implementation can be expedited.

What is the most important issue holding back development?

Coming from a country that has been through a similar phase and having witnessed the same in other countries in ASEAN, we understand the complexity and the need to have a proper plan to ensure that there will be forward progress and that the progress can be sustained. We have full confidence that the government will come up with a workable plan and we look forward to participate in giving our inputs, if we are given the opportunity, as well as participating in it.

How long does the company think it will take until foreign banks are allowed to operate in Myanmar on a commercial basis?

There have been no dates mentioned but we hope that it can be implemented as soon as possible, especially to prepare the country for 2015 as we gear-up for the ASEAN Economic Community.

source: The Myanmar Times
http://www.mmtimes.com/index.php/business/3714-the-myanmar-times-sits-down-with-maybank-s-john-wong.html