Swedish bank to expand into RI’s market

The Swedish bank Handelsbanken is set to open a representative office in the capital city, increasing its worldwide network of offices to 25, more than any other Nordic bank.

The Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia, Johanna Brismar Skoog, is scheduled to inaugurate the office during a ceremony on Thursday.

“We are obliged to follow our customers to different markets in order to always meet their requirements for financial services and we are very excited to now establish a presence in the largest economy in Southeast Asia”, Jan B. Djerf, the head of South Asia Pacific at Handelsbanken, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Erik Milfors, Sweden's former trade commissioner to Indonesia, will be the new chief representative giving Handelsbanken a broad knowledge and insight of Indonesia's businesses and economy.

“Foreign investments in Indonesia continue to grow from our home markets. Handelsbanken’s new office in Jakarta confirms the importance of Indonesia for Nordic companies, as well as for businesses in the UK and the Netherlands, ” Milfors said.

Handelsbanken is a full-service bank with a nationwide branch network in Sweden, the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands.

The bank regards these six countries as its home market.

Handelsbanken was founded in 1871 and currently employs around 11,000 people. (Nurfika Osman)