Himalayan Bank opens rep office in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Himalayan Bank Ltd, the first bank in Nepal to expand out of the country, opened its first overseas representative office in Malaysia yesterday, with an aim to serve the growing Nepalese population here and bridge Malaysian investments into Nepal.
"There's quite a large Nepal labour population in Malaysia, over 700,000 and now going to reach 900,000. That's one area. We've had also our country opening up for foreign investments, so we think it would be a good idea to open an office here to track investments to Nepal," said its CEO Ashoke Sjb Rana.
He said if Malaysian industries and businesses are interested on investing in Nepal, the bank's office here will be able to provide background information and introductions to business partners in Nepal.
According to him, Himalayan Bank has been exploring and planning for four years before opening the representative office in Malaysia. The bank invested RM180,000 to set up the office here and aims to break even within 2½ years.
"According to our agreement given by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), it's only a representative office. After a couple of years and looking at our activities, BNM could allow us to expand our activities here. But that is in the future.
"The initial phase is to of course concentrate on our remittance business and also try to set up relations with Malaysian banks because we do have quite a lot of imports in Nepal of Malaysian commodities and we would like to be part of that business as well," he added.
Commenting on the timing of the opening, with the Goods and Services Tax (GST) just around the corner and uncertain sentiments in Malaysia, Rana said it is an opportune time for the bank as the Malaysian government started allowing more Nepalese workers into Malaysia last year.
In addition, the Nepalese government has been opening up to more foreign investments and have been sending delegations here to promote investments into Nepal with roadshows showcasing the available infrastructure projects and areas to invest in Nepal.
Besides Malaysia, Rana said the bank is interested in building a presence in Myanmar and the Middle East, particularly Dubai, while Australia and the UK are also within the bank's radar.
"Where ever there is concentration of a Nepalese community, it would make sense for us to try and open something in those countries," he said, adding that it is interested in opening a representative office in Dubai soon.
Himalayan Bank chairman Manoj Bahadur Shrestha said the establishment of a representative office here would help to boost trade between the two countries and can play a catalytic role in promoting investment areas like tourism, trade, financial services, joint ventures and franchises besides regular remittance services.
The bank has been facilitating convenient remittance service to Nepalese workers residing in various parts of Malaysia via its online remittance system Himalremit since 2003. It has partnership arrangements with 14 Malaysian local remittance companies to facilitate remittance service to Nepalese workers.
Rana said the bank also hopes to promote legitimate remittance transactions and educate Nepalese workers on using legal channels of money transfer.