Australia lifted autonomous travel and financial sanctions against the south east Asian nation in July 2012, in order to support the Myanmar-Australia Partnership for Reforms that are currently underway - although an arms sanction remains in place.
Under the reforms, Australia will provide $20 million over two years to strengthen democratic institutions, promote human rights, improve economic governance and advance the rule of law, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website.
“Our new Myanmar representative office further strengthens ANZ’s ability to connect customers across our super regional network,” ANZ chief executive Asia Pacific Gilles Planté said in a statement.
“ANZ is now clearly the best connected bank for customers across the Greater Mekong.”
Mr Planté said ANZ's representative office in Myanmar should be the first point of contact for customers interested in doing business in Myanmar, and for businesses in Myanmar looking for opportunities in the 33 markets where ANZ operates across Asia Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, America and the Middle East.
The banks said Rajesh Ahuja, ANZ's group representative in Myanmar, will “leverage ANZ's global capabilities” to ensure it makes a “positive contribution to the economic modernisation and development of Myanmar’s nascent financial markets”.
According to the ANZ statement, the bank in December became the first Australian bank, and the first OECD bank outside of Japan, to receive approval to establish a presence in Myanmar after the lifting of international sanctions in 2012.
