BoB, IOB & Andhra Bank to setup India BIA Bank in Malaysia

Three Indian public banks namely Bank of Baroda (BoB), Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) and Andhra Bank have initiated a joint venture to set up a subsidiary in Malaysia. Under the joint venture, BoB will have a 40% stake and IOB 35% while Andhra Bank holds the balance 25%.

The joint venture bank will be named as India BIA Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, and is expected to start operations by September 2009 with an initial investment of US$86 million (RM300 million).

Their targeted customers will be the Indian corporate sector, expatriates from India and the Indian population in Malaysia. It will focus on lending to edible oil and mentha oil, besides tapping local corporates and the ethnic business community.

With BoB having extensive network in Central and Northern India, and IOB and Andhra Bank in the Southern parts of India, the subsidiary in Malaysia is expected to attract the technical expatriate population who has migrated to Malaysia from different parts of India.

BoB and IOB already having a presence in Malaysia for some years through their representative offices, and they have studied the market well and are well aware of the available opportunities for business development.

This is viewed as a good news to be able to facilitate more trades between India and Malaysia. Trades between the two nations has increased by 84.32% in FY07 and 30.07% in FY08.