Hana Bank opens its first branch in Taiwan

Korean Mission in Taipei, Representative Chung Byung-won, center, celebrates the opening of the bank's Taipei branch on Monday. [HANA BANK]

Hana Bank opened its first branch in Taiwan, the bank announced on Tuesday.

Hana Bank said it opened the branch in Taipei on Monday.

The bank also operates overseas branches in China, the United States, Vietnam and Japan.

Hana Bank vowed to offer localized services at the Taipei branch by hiring employees that are fluent in both English and Chinese. It said it will hire locals and team up with local financial companies to push its localization strategy.

Hana Bank plans to carry out corporate financing and retail financing using local currency. It gained a domestic banking license to be able to launch the services, said the bank.

The bank vowed to raise its role in Asia through the Taipei branch to fulfil its goal of becoming the best financial group in Asia.

Hana Bank “plans to focus its capacity on the Taiwanese investment banking market for government-led infrastructure projects, including aviation, railroad and energy,” said the bank in a statement.

The opening of the Taipei branch is “very meaningful in that it successfully opened despite the difficulties caused by the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic,” said a spokesperson for Hana Bank. “In the future, the bank will offer high quality financial services and convenience to not just overseas Koreans but also local customers.”

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]