The National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) has already approved the license for the Hanoi-based Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) to open its representative office soon in Phnom Penh, which bought a local commercial bank- Prosperity Investment Bank, which began its operation in August 2007.

Tal Nay Im, NBC’s director general, was quoted by the Phnom Post as saying that she was not aware of the value of the deal, but confirmed that negotiations are complete and BIDV will be recognized as the bank’s new owner. She added that she was not aware of the value of the deal, but confirmed that negotiations are complete and BIDV will be recognized as the bank’s new owner.

“After the purchase BIDV will invest US$50 million of capital [in Prosperity] for its business operations,” she said. “It’s very good for Cambodia’s economy that large foreign banks are coming to invest … they bring with them capital and modern banking technology,” the Post reported.

The BIDV is a largest state-owned bank in Vietnam. It is the nation’s number one bank in net income ($70 million USD) and the second biggest bank in revenue ($10.48 billion USD) (behind Agribank). According to the United Nations Development Programme report on the 100 largest enterprises in Vietnam, BIDV came in at the 4th position after Agribank, VNPT and EVN, according to Wikipedia.

The bank was established on 26 April 1957 as the Bank for Construction of Vietnam, under which name it operated until 24 June 1981, at which point it changed its name to the Bank for Investment and Construction of Vietnam. It adopted its present name on 14 November 1990.

In January 2007, the government announced that it would sell a minority stake in the BIDV and three other banks. In March of that same year, they sought the government’s permission to invest in highway projects. In September, they announced that they would form Vietnam’s first aircraft finance group in Hanoi in a joint venture with Vietnam Airlines, PetroVietnam, and Vietnam Post and Telecommunication.

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