TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Responding to the government’s New Southbound Policy, the Bank of Taiwan opened a representative office in southern Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City Wednesday (August 14).

The ceremony followed the launch of an office in the Filipino capital Manila last January 31, the Liberty Times reported. The prominent Taiwanese bank now disposed of 19 offices in 14 countries.

The Indonesian capital Jakarta and the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur were the next targets, with preparatory work already underway.

The financial institution was Taiwan’s only bank with offices on all five continents, Asia, America, Europe, Africa and Oceania, according to the Liberty Times.

At the Ho Chi Minh City office, one of the key tasks would be to assist Taiwanese businesses entering the Southeast Asian market, officials said. The plan would also involve cooperation with other international and with local banks.

Since its launch in 2016, the New Southbound Policy has focused on tightening relations between Taiwan and 18 South and Southeast Asian nations in fields as varied as education, tourism and business.