Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp said on Tuesday it signed an agreement with Myanmar’s Kanbawza Bank to provide management know-how, hoping to cement ties with the country’s largest private lender.Under the agreement, SMBC, a core banking unit of Japan’s third-largest lender Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, will accept trainees from Kanbawza and provide banking operational expertise, the Japanese bank said.

SMBC said it hoped the agreement would eventually lead to a business tie-up with Kanbawza

Japanese banks and other corporations are rushing to do business in Myanmar, a market of up to 60 million people, following political reforms in the Southeast Asian state.

SMBC bank has had a representative office in Myanmar since 1996, and hopes a link with Kanbawza will aid its expansion in the country after some sanctions are lifted.

The Japanese government will start talks on an investment treaty with Myanmar on Wednesday, seeking most-favoured-nation status. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)