AUSTRALIA’S WESTPAC TO EXPAND IN ASIA

MELBOURNE, April 12 (Bernama) -- Westpac Banking Corporation will expand its business in Asia incrementally, amid sluggish credit growth in Australia and lower bank profits, the Australian Associated Press reports.
Chief executive Gail Kelly on Monday said Australia's second biggest lender would expand its business in Asia organically and through partnerships rather than acquisitions.
Speaking three days after Westpac signed a co-operation agreement with Chinese government policy bank, The Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank), Kelly said the group was stepping up the investment it was making in China and in Asia.
"We expect that trade flows between Australia and the rest of Asia will increase by 20 per cent in the next 10 years," she said at a business luncheon here.
Westpac plans to add a third branch in China to its Beijing and Shanghai branches, and also wants to convert its representative office in Mumbai to a full branch.
But its investment in Asia is modest compared with rivals Commonwealth Bank (CBA) and ANZ Banking Group, with ANZ currently generating seven per cent of its group earnings from the region.