November 28, 2002	Thursday	Ramazan 22, 1423

BANGKOK, Nov 27: Chinatrust Commercial Bank, Taiwan’s largest private bank, has expressed interest in acquiring at least 25 per cent of BankThai, which has recently made a public offering.

The announcement followed preliminary talks on Tuesday between Jeffrey Koo, Chinatrust Commercial Bank president, and Thai Finance Minister Somkid Jatusripitak.

However, no definite agreement was reached, since Somkid also asked Chinatrust to consider investing in other sectors of the Thai economy rather than banking alone, according to a financial source.

“If Chinatrust wants to invest in the banking business in order to support Taiwanese investment in Thailand, that is another matter, but we would prefer them to consider investing in other sectors too,” the source said.

Chinatrust has been building its international operations, with offices in London, New York, Vancouver, Tokyo, Hong Kong, New Delhi, Jakarta, Manila, Bangkok, Hanoi, Paraguay, and here in Thailand, where it maintains a representative office.—The Nation/Asia News Network