Kazakh bank discusses China dreams - General - FinanceAsia.com - The network for financial decision makers

Kazakh bank discusses China dreams - General - FinanceAsia.com - The network for financial decision makers: "I'm told BTA plans to open a bank in China or purchase one of the Chinese banks. Have you narrowed down your potential targets? Tatishev: We applied to the National Bank of China for a license to open a bank in Urumchi. Now, we are waiting for permission to start our work. And as soon as we are granted the license we will gradually build the infrastructure. It is the closest province to Kazakhstan and we have very large trade interests in the area, so it is a logical place to look at. We are, in fact, planning to increase our presence in two countries: Turkey and China. Solodchenko: We definitely look to China for growth. As mentioned, we are now in the process of receiving permission from the Chinese regulators to open up a subsidiary in Urumchi. We’ve chosen Urumchi because it is biggest city and closest to the Kazakh border. Most of the trade between our countries goes through Urumchi. We see these trade flows increasing year-to-year. And that trade is increasing mostly in the segment that as a bank we are most interested in, which is small- and medium-sized enterprises and retail businesses. We will serve both import and export trade deals. And this will make it easier for our clients. According to Chinese legislation we have to stay in the market for four y"