What are some of the opportunities and advantages that have arisen as a result of the merger?
Above all, the merger has provided an opportunity to achieve a higher level of sales and lower costs. The merger has achieved economies of scale, enabling us to rationalize our branch structure and redesign our business, including better ways to operate. It also gave us a unique opportunity to restructure our organization and redesign our processes. You were recently appointed Chairman of MasterCard international (MCI) in Asia Pacific. This has opened new channels of opportunity and responsibility for SBB. Would you like to share some of them with us? Correct. I had been a Vice-Chairman for a couple of years before becoming Chairman for Asia Pacific. This entails a responsibility over a big area from East Asia through to Pakistan and Central Asia. Do you think this will strengthen your opportunities with international clients? Yes. There is a lot of sharing of information and networking in the MCI Asia Pacific Board. Insights are gained in the payment business in different countries an
