Citi formally opened a representative office in Hanoi in 1994, but the bank has been active in the country since 1975, 11 years before the 1986 Doi Moi reforms that removed restrictions on foreign trade. That has paid off.
The US firm’s deep knowledge of the country shows through in its performance there: revenue grew 28% year on year, as assets increased 18%. Earnings before interest and taxes jumped 75% year on year.
Citi, led by top country officer AS Ramachandran, is at the vanguard of multinational companies keen to harness Vietnam’s rapid growth and growing per-capita income. The broader bank serves the biggest foreign direct investment clients among Fortune 500 companies, facilitating more than $90 billion of trade flows with Vietnam.
The same goes for Vietnamese companies looking to grow abroad. Citi plays a central role in raising billions in financing for corporates and the government. In the last five years, the bank has raised about $6 billion from the global capital markets to support the ambitions of Vietnamese clients.
Citi’s range of offerings in corporate and investment banking, treasury and trade solution services, commercial banking, consumer banking, securities and transaction services is hard to beat.