Indonesia's largest bank gets permit to open in Shanghai

JAKARTA - After three years of waiting, Indonesia's largest lender Bank Mandiri has obtained a permit to open a branch in Shanghai, China. It is the first step for the bank into the world's most populous country, the Jakarta Globe daily quoted an executive as saying on Friday.

Bank executive Thomas Arifin said on Thursday that Mandiri now would submit a business operation application to CBRC. "We're hoping the Shanghai branch, which we've been trying to establish since 2007, will open in the first half next year to serve various banking activities, such as garnering corporate deposits, disbursing corporate loans, export-import transactions and remittance,"he said.

It would help boost Indonesia and China's business relationship and support Jakarta's efforts to achieve the trade target of $50 billion with China in 2011.

The Shanghai branch will be Mandiri's seventh outside Indonesia.