ANZ on Wednesday opened its new Solomon Islands head office in Ranadi, Honiara, announcing an investment of over AUD$1.5 in the new premises.
Speaking at a function held this week to officially open the new office, ANZ CEO Solomon Islands, Geoffrey Buchanan, highlighted ANZ’s ongoing commitment to Solomon Islands.
“Our new office represents a significant investment for ANZ in Solomon Islands, where we’ve had a presence since 1966 and now have four branches, 13 ATMs and employ more than 110 staff, of whom 60 are based at our Ranadi office,” he said.
“We are fully committed to our customers, staff and communities here, and we continue to prioritise enhancement of our electronic banking capabilities with ongoing rollout of new ATMs and wireless EFTPOS terminals.”
Mr Buchanan added:
“We’re also investing a lot of our time and resources in promoting ANZ goMoney, our mobile phone banking platform that was launched here in 2013.
“We do so because we know that electronic banking channels are no longer the ‘way of the future’, but the ‘way of the present’, and we are committed to positioning Solomon Islands in the present, for a prosperous and financially inclusive future.”
ANZ CEO Pacific & CEO Fiji, Vishnu Mohan, was also at the function in Honiara and highlighted the improved economic conditions since he last visited following the devastating floods of 2014.
“The last time I was here was soon after the floods of April 2014 – a devastating time, to say the least,” said Mr Mohan, who is based at ANZ’s Pacific Headquarters in Suva.
“By contrast, I now return to a thriving business centre that is Honiara, and this is very pleasing to witness. From new private sector developments to improved roads, the trajectory is up, and that tells a good story.”
He added: “Of course, there is much more work to do to help the nation grow from strength to strength, and as a bank that’s completely dedicated to Solomon Islands, we are very proud to be a part of your growth story.”
ANZ has been in Solomon Islands for close to 50 years and has the largest geographical footprint of any bank in the Pacific, with a presence in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Cook Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa, American Samoa, Guam, Timor Leste and a representative office in New Caledonia.
