Swedish lender Svenska Handelsbanken has reportedly opened a representative office in Jakarta to service local customers and work alongside local banks to assist businesses access European markets.
By virtue of the move, Handelsbanken will promote Indonesia to the customers in its home markets and will tap Indonesia’s economic growth.
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The newly opened office will not conduct any actual business dealings and will act more on liaison kind of activities as the Financial Services Authority (OJK) does not permit a representative office to take deposits or lend money in Indonesia.
Handelsbanken will not add any subsidiary bank or a branch network in the near future in the region, reported The Jakarta Globe.
Handelsbanken head of South Asia Pacific Jan Djerf said: "One of the tasks of the rep office here is, of course, to help with various issues that these clients can come across in this country. On the other hand, it’s also to help Indonesian companies gain access to Handelsbanken’s home markets to promote trade between Indonesia and Sweden and Finland, UK and the Netherlands. It goes in both directions.
"We are also having close operations with a number of Indonesian banks, primarily in Jakarta … [The cooperation] could be trade finance, could be bilateral issues between Handelsbank and [local] banks, can be guaranteed business."
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