The News Lens  
Date: 2017/10/02
By: Matthew Fulco

Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy is bearing fruit, at least for the nation’s banks,

Photo Credit:Japanexperterna.se@Flickr CC BY SA 2.0

which are expanding their footprint across ASEAN in lockstep with their corporate clients.

Taiwan has long suffered from a saturated domestic banking market, prompting its banks to foray abroad for new business opportunities. Under the administration of former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), banks took advantage of the cross-Strait detente to open numerous branches in China.

More recently, Taiwanese banks have targeted Southeast Asia, and they now have a presence in all Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries. The accelerated push into Southeast Asia is part of the Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) administration’s New Southbound Policy aimed at reducing Taiwan’s economic reliance on China.    [FULL  STORY]