“Standard Chartered believes Vietnam will have an increasingly powerful economic role in the region,” Mr. Ferguson said at the bank’s ceremony to launch its online internet banking service in Hanoi on September 8.

He said the bank is strongly committed to expanding its business in Vietnam by combining the deep understanding of the local market with its experience in more than 70 countries to meet the diversified needs of its Vietnamese clients.

The world class online internet banking service will make banking and financing operations much more convenient for customers and also help to protect the environment by reducing the use of paper, according to the Standard Chartered.

The Standard Chartered and another UK bank, HSBC, are expected to receive Local Incorporation licences in the presence of visiting Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, in Ho Chi Minh City on September 9.

Prince Andrew, the UK Special Representative for International Trade and Investment, is on a five-day visit to Vietnam from September 6 at the invitation of Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem.