BBL seeks to grow Indian base across the region

Bangkok Bank (BBL) wants to expand its Indian customer base across both Thailand and its Southeast Asia network to tap rising outbound investments from India.
According to Chaiyarit Anuchitworawong, senior executive vice-president at BBL, Indian outbound investments in the region are accelerating, driven by the strong growth potential of both Indian and Southeast Asian economies.
As a regional bank, BBL is expanding its international loan portfolio through offshore clients, especially in Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong and China, he said.
Though BBL has no physical presence in India, its regional network can still cater to Indian customers, generating revenue from this segment.
In Thailand, foreign investors primarily focus on the petrochemical and garment industries, while the bank’s overseas client base and business exposure continue to grow, said Mr Chaiyarit.
“We are very interested in India and have been exploring the market for quite some time, given its strong economic growth of around 7-8% per year,” he said.
“In Thailand BBL serves Indian customers, though we have not yet committed to opening a branch in India.”
Should the bank decide to expand in India, it would likely begin with a representative office to gradually establish and operate within the market, said Mr Chaiyarit.
In the next few years, BBL plans to focus its international banking operations on Indonesia and Vietnam because of their high growth potential and strong foreign direct investment trends.
The Philippines, Cambodia and Laos are also expected to have positive trends, he said.
However, Mr Chaiyarit said the bank will scale back its growth in China over the next year or two, given the economic climate.
Although this represents a rebalancing of its portfolio, BBL intends to maintain the current international banking business proportions over the coming years.
As Thailand’s largest lender by total assets, BBL leads the industry in international banking, with 25% of its total loan portfolio attributed to international business, 12% of which comes from Indonesia.
BBL holds a 98.71% stake in Indonesia’s Bank Permata.
Another senior executive vice-president at BBL, Kobsak Pootrakool, said China recorded import growth of only 0.3% in September year-on-year, reflecting weaker demand and purchasing power.
Rising non-performing loans signal economic risks for China, with businesses awaiting government intervention to address bad debt, which could prove a turning point for the country’s economy, he said.
Mr Kobsak said the impact of US-China tensions and conflicts in the Middle East, Ukraine and Taiwan, especially in the final quarter of 2024 and into 2025 following the US presidential election, could have an effect on the Chinese economy.
The global economic landscape could undergo significant shifts in the longer term, he said.
China is projected to overtake the US as the world’s largest economy, with India and Southeast Asia expected to rise to third and fourth, respectively, within 20 years, said Mr Kobsak.