The Hindu Business Line : PNB seeks to open office in Dubai

PUNJAB National Bank is planning to open a representative office in Dubai in the New Year as part of the moves to promote the PNB brand overseas and globalise its operations, a senior official of the bank said.

Dr K.C. Chakrabarty, Executive Director, PNB, who is on a visit to the UAE to promote the banking facilities being offered to NRI customers, told Business Line that the bank has applied to the UAE Central Bank to open a representative office in Dubai.

The bank is hopeful that permission will be granted for opening the office shortly, he said. Dr Chakrabarty said that over the past year, PNB has made significant moves overseas with the opening of repressentative offices in Shanghai, the UK and Almaty (Kazakstan) and a full-fledged branch in Kabul, the first Indian Bank to open a branch in Afghanistan.

The Almaty branch will be upgraded to a subsidiary, he said. PNB also has a joint venture with Everest Bank Ltd, Nepal (EBL), with 20 per cent equity. The branch is being managed by PNB officials under a technical services agreement.

Plans are also on to open offices in Sri Lanka and Hong Kong as well as strengthen the bank's presence in the Gulf region, he said.

The moves are aimed at providing better services to the large number of NRIs residing in these countries, the official said. Referring to the Gulf, Dr Chakrabarty said that remittances from the Gulf region to the bank's branches was to the tune of Rs 1,000 crore per annum and had witnessed a 14 to 15 per cent growth every year.

Around 20 per cent of this had been captured by PNB by way of deposits and the potential for growth in this region was very good, he said. A liaison office in Dubai would help to serve the NRI population in the Gulf States better, he added. PNB has tie-ups with many exchanges houses in the Gulf including seven in the UAE. The official said that by March next year, PNB will have the largest network of on-line branches in India. This would also greatly assist its NRI customers, he said.

During the half-year ended September 2004, the bank earned a net profit of $160 million (Rs 735 crore) with a growth of over 33 per cent.