Emirates NBD Strengthens Access for Indian Investors

DUBAI:
Emirates NBD, a leading banking group in the Middle East region has expanded operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), strengthening access for Indian investors seeking to invest and trade in the Kingdom. Emirates NBD offers Indian retail and corporate customers a full suite of banking, trade and treasury services via itsbranch in India’s commercial centre, Mumbai.
Emirates NBD is the only UAE-based bank with physical presence across all of India’s important trade corridors from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) across to Asia and the United Kingdom (UK).Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth largest trade partner and ranks as the eighth largest market globally for Indian exports.
Emirates NBD recently inaugurated its first branch in Jeddah and announced plans to soon open a branch in Khobar and a second branch in Riyadh, making KSA Emirates NBD’s largest branch network outside the UAE and Egypt.Leveraging the bank’s digital capabilities and strong franchise across KSA’s key trade markets, Emirates NBD KSA offers full-fledged services across retail, private, business and wholesale banking. It also offers corporate finance advisory, project and syndicated finance through Emirates NBD Capital KSA, the bank’s investment banking arm.
“India and KSA have significant trade relations and we believe our expanded presence in the Kingdom offers Indian investors a unique conduit,” said Hesham Abdulla Al Qassim,Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Emirates
NBD.
“As Saudi rolls out its transformative Vision 2030 plan, we are delighted to deepen our relationship and continue to support Saudi individuals and businesses looking for a trusted banking partner.”
KSA represents the largest economy in the GCC and the country’s economic diversification programme is expected to boost development and increase capital and trade flows across the region. Emirates NBD is the first non-Saudi bank to have a significant branch network across the Kingdom. TheUAE-based bank also operates in Egypt, India, Singapore, and the United Kingdom with representative offices in China and Indonesia.
Saudi Arabia and India enjoy strong bilateral relations. Energy is a key pillar of cooperation as the Kingdom provides 19% of India’s energy requirements. Several large Indian businesses have secured contracts in Saudi and the Kingdom is home to about three million- Indian expatriates. Additionally, Indians constitute one of the largest contingents of pilgrims to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Eng. Loai Hassan Abduljawad,Chief Executive Officer of Emirates NBDKSA, added “Our increased footprint will enable us to forge stronger on-ground relationships with individual and corporates in KSA looking to invest and trade across the MENA region and beyond., including the large population of Indian expatriates and business in the Kingdom. We are committed to delivering value and contributing to the long-term development of the Kingdom’s economy.”