The Commercial Bank became the first Sri Lankan bank to be granted a licence by the Central Bank of Myanmar (CBM) to operate a representative branch in the Southeast Asian country.
“We believe that there is further potential to increase bilateral trade between Myanmar and Sri Lanka, and that there is a likelihood of some of Sri Lanka’s leading apparel exporters and other industries setting up operations in Myanmar,” Commercial Bank’s Chairman Dharma Dheerasinghe said in a statement.
“The presence of a representative office of Sri Lanka’s largest private bank would facilitate this process, and be mutually beneficial to the two countries.”
Plans to open this representative office were first reported in November last year.
Commercial Bank’s Managing Director and CEO Jegan Durairatnam told Sri Lankan media that the bank is still planning as to what services to offer initially in Myanmar, as well as the timelines for setting up the office.
Myanmar will be Commercial Bank’s second overseas operation after Bangladesh, which the bank entered in July 2003, with the acquisition of the Bangladesh operations of Credit Agricole Indosuez (CAI), Commercial Bank’s first ever acquisition of a banking operation.
