S'pore key for StanChart as trade, investments in Asean grow: CEO

Region starting to rival Greater China, S. Asia and Mid-East in contributing to bank's business

- Chor Khieng Yuit

Intra-regional trade in South-east Asia is growing and so are the foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into the region, said Standard Chartered Bank group chief executive Bill Winters.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Straits Times, he said Asean as a region is beginning to rival Greater China, South Asia and the Middle East in terms of overall contribution to StanChart's business.

And Singapore, he added, is a very important hub for the bank's business. StanChart had said previously that the Republic is much more than just a gateway to South-east Asia. Rather, it is an important connection in the global flow of capital and trade.

Mr Winters said Singapore has invested heavily in public-private partnership initiatives to facilitate trade and investment flows.

For example, the public sector is working with private sector stakeholders like banks and insurance companies, as well as shippers and logistics providers, to tokenise trade or use blockchain.

This initiative will streamline the provision of global trade finance and ease friction costs between trading partners, he added.

"To the extent that the trade friction costs go down, Asean economies, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam, will benefit from a lower cost of trade," Mr Winters said.

Alongside the improvement in trade flows, investment flows into South-east Asia have also picked up. Mr Winters said "foreign direct investment into Asean is enormous".