Exclusive | DBS sets new targets for Greater Bay Area after shrugging aside pandemic and recording strong growth in development zone, CEO says

DBS, the largest bank in Southeast Asia, is planning further expansion in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) development zone after achieving a five-year growth target, its CEO said.

Income generated from large companies in the zone since the launch of the five-year plan in 2018 has increased by 30 per cent, while that from small and medium-sized enterprises has more than doubled, Piyush Gupta said in an interview with the Post last week.

“We are very bullish on the Greater Bay Area,” he said on his first visit to the city in three years. “We made a Greater Bay Area plan five years ago and we have achieved our goals despite headwinds [such as Covid-19].”

With China and Hong Kong reopening their borders in January, the bank is currently working on a new three-year plan for the GBA, which includes setting up a technology centre in Guangzhou for the development of innovative fintech solutions. DBS picked Guangzhou for the centre because of the wide availability of technology talent in the region, Gupta said.

“The Greater Bay Area is a market with a population of 75 million people and many large and mid-cap companies. It is also one of the richest areas in the world, with a lot of customers who will need wealth-management services,” he said.