Macau, China, 28 April – The offshore subsidiary in Macau of Portuguese bank Millenium bcp plans to get a license to operate as a retail bank this year, the manager of the subsidiary João Pãosinho told English-language newspaper The Macau Post Daily.

The decision to request a license , which will give the group an open door to the Macau market, is due to Millenium bcp’s confidence in the Macau economy and the conviction that it will continue to progress, Pãosinho said.

Despite the presence in Macau of international and national banks, the manager of the offshore branch of the Portuguese bank said that competition was not a great concern.

“We do not plan to compete with these banks as we are going to focus our business on what is called the corporate market, providing loans to companies, institutions or individuals that plan to do business in some African countries such as Angola or Mozambique,” Pãosinho told the newspaper.

Pãosinho noted that the bank had a representative office i Guangzhou and said he was convinced that the bank had the capacity to support Chinese entrepreneurs that plan to do business in Africa.

Millenium bcp is the biggest private Portuguese ban, with 4.3 million customers and 900 branches all over the world. (macauhub)