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Bangladesh: a best-kept secret

Standard Chartered's senior official says

Md Fazlur Rahman
STANDARD Chartered Bank will do more for Bangladesh by way of continuing to promote the country abroad, attract foreign investors and connect local companies with global opportunities, said a senior executive of the global lender.
"We think we can do more as Bangladesh is one of the best-kept secrets," Judy Hsu, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered for the Asean and South Asia region, told The Daily Star in an interview recently.
Having operated since 1905, the London-headquartered bank has been the longest serving financial institution in Bangladesh. Today, it is the largest foreign bank and is among the leading foreign investors in the country.
The bank plays a leading role in enabling trade and investment in Bangladesh. A significant portion of the country's external trade and foreign direct investment are facilitated by the bank.
In 2017, the bank facilitated 8 percent of the country's trade directly and 30 percent of the nation's dollar clearing.
The bank is deeply rooted in Bangladesh and committed to the country, said Hsu, who joined Standard Chartered in 2009 as the global head of wealth management.
"We have been advocating the country as an investment destination to potential foreign investors through various investment summits over the last seven years," she said, referring to the events the bank organises regularly outside of the country to promote Bangladesh.
The bank plans to keep holding the summit to tell the success stories of Bangladesh and its potential to outside investors.
Bangladesh presents a unique story of growth and resilience and is an important market for the bank.
"This is a market with an immense growth potential."
Bangladesh showed its resilience through the Asian financial crisis in the 1990s and the global financial crisis in 2008.
And even as the environment gets increasingly challenging, Bangladesh continues to show a consistent 6-7 percent GDP
growth, said Hsu, who assumed the role of regional CEO on June 1, 2018.
Connectivity is key to supporting the region's economic growth and Standard Chartered is well-positioned to drive the connectivity agenda in the region.
Thanks to its network, local insights and product capabilities the bank can also help its clients leverage the opportunities that the Belt & Road initiative offers.
Standard Chartered has a footprint covering 70 percent of the B&R countries and a history of more than 150 years in many of these high-growth countries.
In 2017, the bank was involved in more than 50 deals relating to the B&R with a total value exceeding $10 billion.
Among them, more than 20 deals were related to projects in the Asean and South Asian markets, and more than half were in Africa.
Enhanced connectivity in the region via the Belt & Road Initiative will further boost Bangladesh's economy, Hsu said.
The bank leverages its strong and strategic partnerships with the Silk Road Fund, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the New Development Bank, Chinese policy banks and Chinese commercial banks to ensure clients have full institutional support as they go global.
It has also set up a dedicated China desk to facilitate business in the corridor and to provide support to Chinese clients.
Helping Bangladesh's businesses succeed on a global scale is a key area of focus for the bank in 2018.
"We are supporting large Bangladeshi corporates to go global. This is a part of our overarching mission of driving commerce and prosperity for the country."
Standard Chartered Bangladesh issued the standby letter of credit for the inaugural import of liquefied natural gas.
The bank partnered with Akij Group to complete Bangladesh's first-ever cross-border acquisition by a Bangladeshi enterprise.
The local group acquired Robin Resources Malaysia and its subsidiary Robina Flooring, both of which manufacture mediumdensity fibreboard and wood floor tiles and different wood
products and export to about 60 countries.
With the support of the bank, Square Pharmaceuticals made its first international investment through its 100 percent owned subsidiary, Square Pharmaceuticals Kenya EPZ Ltd.
"We are a window to the world for companies that want to explore opportunities abroad," she said, adding that many Chinese investors are coming to Bangladesh because of the B&R initiatives.
Hsu said the bank is investing in the retail segment heavily as well as in the commercial banking. Investment in technology is also important and this is a big agenda for the bank, she said.
"We have some of the best relations not only with our clients but also with the regulator and the government. We are very, very deeply rooted here."
It is great to see that despite various challenges, the economy
and the banking industry are doing so well.
"My job is to ensure the business growth of Bangladesh and promote the country."
Hsu sees competition is deepening in the way banks have operated traditionally.
With the fast-changing times the demands and expectations of the clients are changing as well.
Banks can no longer continue to work as an institution to lend money and take deposits only; they will have to be solutions providers too.
"Customers are always asking for more and we give utmost importance to the needs and convenience of our customers."
Imparting financial education to the growing middle class, customising products for the aging population and providing wealth management solutions are all becoming important for banks.
"Besides, local and regional
banks are increasingly becoming very sophisticated that international banks such as Standard Chartered can't be complacent."
Standard Chartered is the only international bank that has a strong presence in both the Asian and African markets, said Naser Ezaz Bi joy, chief executive officer of the bank's Bangladesh operation.
"So, if a business wants to expand their footprint, we will be able to facilitate them in a compliant manner."
Standard Chartered has been involved in the financing of around 20 percent of power generation in Bangladesh. So far, it has arranged financing for almost the entire fleet of Boeing aircrafts procured recently by Biman, he added.
When asked about how to ensure good governance in the bank, Hsu said it is embedded in the culture of the bank.
The bank has an enterprise risk management framework that sets the principles and standards for proactive risk management. Bijoy said.
"Our healthy risk culture gives us an enterprise level ability to identify and assess current and future risks, and allows us to take prompt actions for risk mitigation," he added.
Hsu, who leads 24,000 people at the bank's Asean and South Asia markets, said her target is to nurture talent as it is the people that make the difference.
"We just don’t want to build a profitable business; we also want to build a sustainable business," said Hsu, who holds a bachelor degree in microbiology and an MBA in finance, both from the University of British Columbia in Canada.
She said the bank is proud of its corporate social responsibility initiatives in Bangladesh.
The Seeing is Believing, Standard Chartered's global initiative to tackle avoidable blindness, in fact, began its journey in Bangladesh 15 years ago with an aim to raise $100 million by 2020. The goal has been reached this year, two years ahead of the deadline.
The initiative has already touched 1.2 million lives in Bangladesh and has been rolled out in more than 20 countries.
fazlur.rahman@thedailystar.net