ANZ is expanding its recruitment in Asian emerging markets. Kim Reid, ANZ’s head of HR Asia Pacific, tells us there are 'huge employment opportunities' in Cambodia and other emerging Asia countries.

The bank hopes to be a trailblazer for other Australian firms as 'emerging Asia' comes to mean more than just China and India. ANZ has strong penetration in Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. And in Cambodia the three year-old ANZ Royal Bank is the largest in the market and has built up a team focusing on corporate and retail banking.

Peter Russell, a KPMG banking head in Australia, says there will be explosions of demand for talent in these new banking markets, “especially when you know what we’ve seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg”.

He adds: “ANZ has done some clever things in Asia. In 1994, it was one of the only banks to issue credit cards in Vietnam. With mobile banking, ANZ had a good opportunity in Cambodia and took it.”

Australian-domiciled Asian nationals are in the perfect position to pick up emerging market banking jobs in Asia, says Katherine Anderson at recruiter Russell Reynolds.

Demand is strongest for senior roles, says Heline Lam, Derwent Executive’s financial services practice leader in Singapore. But salaries in emerging markets can’t complete with those in the city state. A banking VP in Singapore earns about US$130k-$180k in base pay, but in Malaysia expect that salary slashed in half.

ANZ will have to compete for local talent in Asia with market leaders HSBC and Standard Chartered.