Australia's future 'completely linked to Asia': ANZ chief All signs point to Asia: ANZ chief Mike Smith. ANZ Bank chief executive Mike Smith has defended the bank's aggressive push into Asia, insisting the expansion plan is the best way to exploit the region's economic rise. After the bank handed down a $6.5 billion full year profit this morning, market analysts continued to debate the merits of its goal to make 25 to 30 per cent of its profits from outside of Australia and New Zealand by 2017. JP Morgan analyst Scott Manning suggested the goal was in doubt earlier this month, amid evidence returns from its investment in Asia have been much weaker than those from its domestic business. Mr Smith and chief financial officer Shayne Elliott this morning sent a signal the bank will not be retreating from its Asia push, arguing it cold not be seen in isolation from the rest of its business. In the latest half, cash earnings from outside of Australia and New Zealand rose 5 per cent to $1 billion, slower than the 11 per cent growth in Australian earnings and 19 per cent expansion in NZ. But the bank is urging investors to have patience. Although it concedes returns from Asia have been lower, it says the region has greater growth potential in the long term. "The future of Australia and New Zealand is now completely linked to Asia, which is also the number one driver of global economic growth," Mr Smith said. We are the only Australian bank, and one of just a few double-A rated international banks, that provides customers with a network and connectivity to these fastest-growing markets. Pressed to explain how a presence in fast-growing economies translated into shareholder returns, Mr Smith said it was necessary to have "critical mass" in a region. If you are of critical mass you will have a platform which will actually automatically grow with GDP growth, so if you're in a higher GDP growth region... you would automatically expect your business to grow faster than one in a low one. Despite the heavy focus on its Asian plans, a strong performer in the year to September was ANZ's Australian arm, where it has been pinching home loan, credit card and deposit customers from rivals. Profits in the division, which includes retail and small business lending, made the biggest contribution to profit after expanding by 11 per cent to $2.87 billion. Investors have reacted favourably to the result, pushing ANZ shares 2 per cent higher to $33.95 around lunch time. While the bank has been pumping more capital into its Australian business this year, Mr Smith stressed that its capacity to do this was limited by slow credit growth. "You can give it all the capital you like, [but] you can't build the business much more than system growth," he said. The bank stood by the target to obtain 25 to 30 per cent of its earnings from overseas, mainly Asia, by 2017. It forecast revenue growth of 4 to 5 per cent this financial year, compared with cost growth of 2 per cent. The bank also unveiled new targets to lift return on equity to 16 per cent by 2016, and to further reduce its cost to income ratio.