SINGAPORE: United Overseas Bank (UOB) signed two loan agreements with clients which are investing in Myanmar at the opening ceremony of its Yangon branch.
UOB said it would help Cycle & Carriage Automobile Myanmar Company to fund the building of two automobile showrooms and a servicing workshop in Yangon to cater to rising demand for private transport.
The bank also extended a loan to System-Bilt Myanmar to build a 200-room extension for the Summit Parkview, an international hotel System-Bilt Myanmar has invested in in Central Yangon.
UOB did not disclose the two loan amounts. The bank earlier this week said that it plans to help its clients invest US$300 million in Myanmar over the next 12 months.
Cycle & Carriage Automobile Myanmar Company is owned by Singapore-listed Jardine Cycle & Carriage and Myanmar-based Automobile Alliance Company limited. System-Bilt Myanmar is 100 per cent owned by Regional Hotel from Singapore.
UOB deputy chairman and chief executive officer Wee Ee Cheong said investments of the bank’s clients were directed at meeting Myanmar’s growing urbanisation and industrial needs.
The bank noted in a press release that after Myanmar relaxed automotive import regulations in 2012, the number of vehicles in Myanmar has increased by 86 per cent in two years. It also said it expected the number of vehicles to grow 7.8 per cent per annum through 2019
UOB also noted that according to Myanmar’s Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, international visitor arrivals in Myanmar are expected to rise to 7.5 million in 2020 from 3.5 million in 2014.
In May this year, UOB extended loans to Rangoon Excelsior Company to finance the refurbishment of a hotel in Yangon.
In early 2014, it agreed to provide offshore financing to Singapore firm Asiatech Energy, which won a contract to build a power plant in Myanmar.
UOB’s Yangon branch provides corporate loans, trade financing, and cash management solutions to regional and global companies expanding into Myanmar.
The opening ceremony of the branch was attended by deputy prime minister Teo Chee Hean, Myanmar ministry of finance union minister U Win Shein and central bank of Myanmar governor U Kyaw Kyaw Maung.
