BNP Paribas is mapping out a 'very aggressive and ambitious plan' to cash in on strong growth potential in Asia Pacific, said its head of North Asia Mignonne Cheng.
'This market presents us with tremendous business opportunities and it is only normal that we map out a very aggressive and very ambitious plan for this region,' Ms Cheng told a media conference marking BNP's 50th anniversary in Hong Kong.
BNP plans to double its headcount across the border over the next three years from about 300 now. It wants to triple revenue in that market over the same period.
As the US economy shows signs of running out of steam, leading banks have turned to emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil to pick up some of the slack. For BNP, the target is to double revenue from emerging markets over the next three years to contribute to 15 per cent of group revenue.
The bank said it would also rely on Hong Kong to anchor its presence in the region. Asia and emerging countries accounted for 27 per cent of BNP's revenue in corporate and investment banking operations last year, second to Europe's 49 per cent in regional shares.
'This explains why Hong Kong is so important to us,' said Baudouin Prot, BNP's chief executive, who travelled to Hong Kong to commemorate the bank's milestone.