DHAKA: Doha Bank has formally opened a representative office in Bangladesh, the first bank from the Gulf region to do so. The office has been launched to support Bangladeshi investors and their investment in the Gulf region. R Seetharaman, chief executive officer of Doha Bank, made the announcement at a press conference in Dhaka on Thursday.
Doha Bank is one of the largest commercial banks in the state of Qatar. It has branches in the UAE, Kuwait and India with representative offices in the UK, Germany, Turkey, Singapore, China, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Seetharaman said: “The representative office will initially work as a corresponding bank for local banks by supporting them in receiving foreign credit lines and make it easier for Bangladeshis to collect remittance. “We will start our full-scale banking operations after assessing the market response. “We chose to expand in Bangladesh since it is an emerging economy. There will be huge investments from the Gulf nations in the future”, said Seetharaman.
Praising Bangladesh’s investment-friendly environment, he said: “Bangladesh’s GDP rate is growing, the inflation rate is stable, the policymaking is conducive to the economy, and the satisfactory current account balance is prompting businessmen from the Gulf nations to increase investment in Bangladesh.” “Many Saudi investors are interested in Bangladesh there are many projects in the pipeline, hence Doha Bank is here to improve the bilateral relationship between Bangladesh and the Gulf nations. “We will showcase Bangladesh’s business opportunities to the foreign investors”, he further added. Abdulla Al-Asadi, head of CRM and Private Banking of Doha Bank, Frank Hamer, head of international banking and Ajay Kumer Sarker, chief representative of Doha Bank’s Bangladesh office also attended the press conference.
