Stephen Bird is the Asia-Pacific chief executive of Citigroup. He is also a non-executive director of Citibank Korea. He acknowledges that the Korean operation needs further growth.
“Korea is the core of our Asia growth strategy. Our commitment to the development of our Asia franchise is stronger today than at any other time in our 42-year history in Korea,” he told The Korea Times in an e-mail interview.
Stephen Bird |
Bird says that he “absolutely” agrees that South Korea has the potential to become a financial powerhouse.
“It has emerged from the global financial crisis faster than other countries and is now focused on becoming a financial hub in Northeast Asia. Also, Korea, as a leader in the G-20 and host of the G-20 meeting in November, is expected to play a critical role in fostering sustained global growth,” he said.
Like CEO Ha, who prefers quality to quantity, Bird also implies that the bank’s priority here is to focus on improving the current operation.
“In terms of growing the business, our focus has always been on organic growth but we will consider inorganic expansion if necessary,” he said.
cjs@koreatimes.co.kr
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