SBI becomes first domestic bank to open branch in Yangon

The State Bank of India (SBI) on 3 October 2016 became the first domestic bank of India to open a branch in the capital city of Yangon, Myanmar. Ghanshyam Srivastava will be the Chief Executive Officer of the SBI Yangon branch.this was made possible with the permission of the Myanmarese central bank, which allowed SBI to open a branch with the primary objective of extending wholesale
banking services to foreign corporates. The Yangon branch is the 54th foreign branch of the SBI, nation's largest lender. This branch extends the global presence of SBI in 37 countries through 198 offices.

Background

India has been a major trading partner of Myanmar for centuries. Since the signing of India and Myanmar trade agreement in 1970, bilateral trade between both the countries has been growing steadily.

SBI has been associated with Myanmar since 1861, when the erstwhile Bank of Bengal operated its branch in the then Rangoon. Later, as part of bank nationalisation, the operations of the Rangoon branch of SBI were taken over by the Peoples' Bank of Burma in February 1963.

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