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| Leading Spanish bank sees HK as business facilitator for China ( 01/09/2005 ) | |||||||||
Miguel A. Caballero, general manager of BBVA Hong Kong branch (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria) said the award-winning bank which is the bank of choice for over 75 per cent of FORTUNE 500 companies around the world, is eyeing expansion in Asia via its 20-year old flagship Hong Kong base. "BBVA is the only Spanish and Latin American bank with full operation in Hong Kong. It was set up in 1985 so with 20 years experience, our business model and scope have been enhanced substantially. We want BBVA Hong Kong to be the regional hub offering a full array of services ranging from trade financing to straight and structure lending for any company whether they are small-and-medium-sized enterprises, local trading companies or multinational corporations falling within our business segmentation," said Mr Caballero. Global expansion strategy BBVA has representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai and the latter is in the process of being upgraded to a branch office. It has also opened a Tokyo branch last June. "We're at the forefront of the leading banks in Europe with a market capitalisation of 45 billion Euros. BBVA is traditionally very strong in Latin America because of history and culture. In fact, Spain is the major direct foreign investor in Latin America. With this situation, Asia was a 'small brother' for a long time but all that is changing rapidly. BBVA is on a global expansion strategy and right now we're looking at Asia in general particularly at China," explained Mr Caballero. He added that awareness among Spanish companies about doing business in China is growing rapidly. "Spanish companies like Loewe, Lladro, Zara and Mango have set up retail outlets in Hong Kong as it is a market in its own right. At the same time, China is one of the largest markets in the world so obviously I see Hong Kong as the entry point and suitable gateway to China," he added. "I also think Spanish companies should deal with local suppliers or have a Hong Kong partner to enter the mainland." Successful business model BBVA Hong Kong wants to align its business model with the exciting business opportunities in China and grow its market share. It intends to be a "one-stop shop" in a business world where an effective supply chain management model increasingly holds the key to global success. Mr Caballero explained: "We want to give a value-added proposal and a complete financial package to the client so that from the signing of the contract to final repayment of the underlying contract, he deals with BBVA. We try to provide flexibility in terms of pricing, banking solutions and lead-time in decision making." As Chairman of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Mr Caballero is also actively promoting trade links between Spain and Hong Kong which is registering double digit growth per cent. His task of promoting Spain China business links is made easier with the "Asia Plan" - a government initiative introduced in 2000 to increase Spanish presence in Asia through culture, economics and communication. Top Spanish companies like Telefonica have invested in China and it is further proof of Spanish investments coming this way, said Mr Caballero. He has also seen more and more Spanish business delegation visiting southern China's Pearl River Delta (PRD) called "the factory of the world" because of the large number of production facilities set up by Hong Kong and other global companies. Spanish Roadshow To capture a larger slice of the market share in this part of the world, BBVA will take part in a Spanish Roadshow organised by the Trade Development Council (TDC) in Barcelona, Valencia and Madrid from 27-29 September. Entitled "Hong Kong: Turning China into opportunity", it is a networking event promoting Spain-Hong Kong partnership to access opportunities in China. To know more about the TDC organised event, click Spanish Roadshow BBVA has operations in 33 countries and is helping to play a leading role in the international expansion of Spanish companies. In a single decade, it "has reinforced its position in Mexico, it has a foothold in the USA, it is expanding to Asia and it wants to grow in Europe." For more info on BBVA Group | |||||||||
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