Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

DBS Bank will continue to deepen its presence, influence and cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) in 2023, according to the Singapore-based bank.

“I believe DBS has strategically positioned itself to seize the abundant opportunities presented by the GBA,” Sebastian Paredes, head of North Asia, DBS and chairman of DBS China, said at the DBS Greater Bay Area Conference, which was held in Shenzhen on Wednesday.

It’s DBS’s third Greater Bay Area Conference since 2019, showcasing the bank’s commitment to continue investing and supporting the economic growth in the GBA, according to DBS.

DBS took the initiatives to bring about the GBA strategy as early as 2018, Paredes said, calling the GBA “an indispensable part” of the bank’s blueprint for future development.

He disclosed that the bank’s business growth rate in the GBA has been twice faster than that of DBS Hong Kong and the bank has surpassed all its targets in the region despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

“DBS Group is very optimistic about opportunities in the GBA. We have a solid strategy, rich financial resources and strong partners, which enable us to act as a one-stop financial service provider to meet the diversified domestic and overseas financial needs of enterprises and individual customers at different levels,” Ginger Cheng, chief executive officer of DBS Bank (China) Ltd., said.

As the largest shareholder of Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB), DBS Bank said it will also continue to deepen the strategic partnership with SRCB to support the development of the real economy in Shenzhen and the GBA.

“We hope to continue to maintain seamless cooperation with the GBA and, in the short term, we look forward to training up more banking, financial and technological experts in the region, and providing customers with better services,” Paredes said.

In 2003, DBS China opened a branch in Shenzhen, its first in South China, becoming one of the first foreign-funded banks in the Pearl River Delta region to focus on financial services for small and medium-sized firms.

The Shenzhen branch launched personal banking services in 2005, the first personal banking and wealth management services DBS Bank launched on the Chinese mainland.