Mizuho Bank sees 10% growth in Phl loans

MANILA, Philippines - Mizuho Corporate Bank of Japan is projecting an annual 10-percent growth in its loan portfolio in the Philippines, a top bank official said.

In an interview on the sideline of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bank of the Philippines Islands (BPI), Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. managing executive officer Hiroshi Suehiro said at present they have about $500- to $600-million loan exposure in the Philippines.

Because of single borrower’s limit, actual loans booked in the Philippines amounts to between $250 to $300 million.

He said there are about 1,000 Japanese companies operating in the Philippines and this number could double with the continuing robust growth in the country’s economy.

About 30 percent of the Philippines’ foreign direct investment, he said, are from Japan.

“Asia is the primary target region for Mizuho and we have been making efforts to enhance our services in Asia,” Suehiro said.

The Mizuho executive said “with the recent economic gains of the Philippines, we expect more and more foreign and Japanese companies to be interested in investing in this country and we hope this alliance will mutually augment our capabilities in supporting our customers investing in the Philippines,” he said.

Specifically, the MOU would involve cooperation between the two banks in terms of trade finance, retail banking, mergers and acquisitions, cash management, bond/guaranty issuances, syndicated loans and information exchange.

Asked why it chose BPI as its partner, Suehiro said “BPI is the best bank in the Philippines.”

Mizuho is one of the so-called “Mega” banks in Japan with 34 branches in the region. The Japanese bank had a representative branch in the Philippines for 15 years.

“We are considering services such as introducing local partners from the customer base of BPI to the foreign companies clientele of Mizuho or offering local currency services to foreign companies through the network of BPI,” the Japanese bank official said.

BPI, for its part, has about P13 billion worth of loans to about 600 Japanese clients.

BPI executive vice president Alfonso Salcedo Jr. said their loan portfolio for Japanese clients has been growing about 19 to 20 percent for the past years.

“The alliance will afford BPI the opportunity to be an active participant in the wider Asia financial arena through various region wide initiatives designed to grow in tandem with Asia’s increasing importance in the world economy,” Salcedo said.

For his part, BPI president Aurelio Montinola III said the partnership with Mizuho is very timely in light of the fact that the Philippine economy has been showing robust performance.

Recently, the country’s gross domestic product hit a high of 7.1 percent.

“Steady growth is being achieved and confidence in the future has returned in a big way. Ratings agencies have affirmed this in recent months with optimism that the long sought for investment grade rating may be achieved as early as next year,” he said.

Montinola said “ Mizuho Corporate Bank’s efforts in assisting Japanese corporations gain more thorough knowledge of the Philippines and the advantages of starting new ventures in the country is very much in line with BPI’s aim to contribute to further growing the Philippine economy.”