First Scandinavian Bank to Open in Indonesia

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Swedish Bank Handlesbanken will open a representative office in Jakarta, adding its worldwide network offices to 25, more than any other Nordic banks. Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia Johanna Brismar Skoog is scheduled to inaugurate the new office on March 12, 2015.

Erik Milfors, former Trade Commissioner for Sweden to Indonesia, was appointed as the new Chief Representative giving Handelsbanken a broad knowledge and insight of Indonesian business and economy. 

"Foreign investments in Indonesia continue to grow from our home markets. Handelsbanken’s new office in Jakarta confirms the importance of Indonesia for Nordic companies as well as businesses in UK and the Netherlands," Milfors said.

Founded in 1871 and employs over 11,000 people, Handelsbanken is a full-service bank with a nationwide branch network in Sweden, UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. Since the early 1970s, Handelsbanken's organization has been strongly decentralized and operations are always based on the customer's requirements.

Claimed as a bank with higher customer satisfaction rate than peer banks, Handelsbanken is one of the most cost-effective listed full-service banks in Europe. Over the last 42 years, the bank has had higher return on equity than the average of peer banks. (*)