Undaunted, Citigroup has eye on Korea
Dong-A-Ilbo, Korea
Undaunted, Citigroup Has Eye on Korea
1 July 2006
by Jong sik Kong
The CEO of the world’s largest financial services company, Citigroup’s Charles Prince, announced that he is not too concerned with the Korean sentiment against foreign assets in Korea, June 29.
Prince met Korean news correspondents before the opening ceremony of its branch in Korea Town, located in Manhattan, New York, and answered inquiries on his perspective on “Korea’s anti-sentiment against foreign assets from the Lone Star incident that “at least (in Korea) Citibank’s experience was good and very positive.”
He continued on the effect of the Korea-US free trade agreement (FTA) on Korea’s finance industry that “it is good for development to encourage competition by opening the market” and that “the FTA will be an opportunity to enhance the competitiveness of Korea’s finance industries.”
At the opening ceremony of the Citibank branch in Korea Town, Citigroup’s heads including CEO Prince and vice chairman William Rose were present. It was unusual for the group chairman to attend the opening of a branch.
Prince stated “I attended the ceremony as the Korea Town branch is not merely one of many branches but is significant,” and added “the Korea Town branch will be a bridge connecting New York’s Korea Town and Korean customers.”
The Korea Town branch is the first to serve a specific ethnicity in the United States, and is composed of 16 employees fluent in both Korean and English.
During the opening ceremony, 100 people, including employees of Citibank’s headquarters, Korean ambassador to the United States Lee Tae-sik, Citibank Korea CEO Ha Yung-ku, and New York Korean Association Chairman Lee Gyung-ro.
Ha said “We invested 3 billion dollars taking over Hanmi Bank, and by observing the establishment of a branch for Koreans in Manhattan, we can see the extent to which Citigroup is interested in Korea,” and added that “unlike Lone Star, Citibank aims for long-term strategic investment in Korea.”
