Doha Bank opens its Chennai branch
KUWAIT: Doha Bank, one of the largest commercial banks in Qatar, announced the official opening of its Chennai branch. The branch Inauguration and ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on April 4, 2018. The inauguration ceremony was attended by the board members including Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Chairman, Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Managing Director, Abdulla Bin Mohamed Bin Jabor AlThani, Board Member, Ali Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Malki, Board Member and Dr R Seetharaman, CEO along with the senior management team of Doha Bank. The inauguration ceremony was also attended by several highprofile dignitaries from Qatar including Abdulrahman Ahmad A Y Al-Obaidan, Hassen Aliakbar G Radwani, Ibrahim Nabina, Maqbool Habeeb J Khalfan, Solaiman Haidar S H Al Haidar, Ahmad Abdul Kareem Al-Jalham and Yousif Mousa E Abuhelaiqa. In addition, the members of Local Advisory Board (LAB) of Doha Bank India - Shailesh Haribhakti, Dr Kailash Mishra, Rajmal Parakh and Sunder George - were also present.
Earlier, P Kumaran, Ambassador of India to Qatar had met Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al-Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank, to convey his best wishes and support on the launch of their new branch in Chennai. As part of the proceedings, a separate press conference was held, headed by Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Bin
Jabor Al-Thani - Managing Director of Doha Bank, Dr R Seetharaman -CEO of Doha Bank, Frank Hamer - Head of International Banking, Ahmad Al Hanzab - Head of Administration & Properties and Manish Mathur - Country Head India and attended by more than 100 representatives from various press and media houses, both local and national.
Hospitality
Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al-Thani expressed his gratitude to the hospitality provided by the residents of Chennai. He also added that Doha Bank’s Chennai branch will facilitate business and investments between Qatar and India.
Dr Seetharaman said “Doha Bank was the first Qatari bank to start its operations in India when it started its Mumbai operations in 2015, first Qatari bank in Kochi and we are the first bank from the Gulf to be in Tamil Nadu.”
India branches
Dr Seetharaman further explained various products offered by the India branches. He added “The Chennai branch will assist the bank’s growing customer base in India with a wide range of services, including Corporate Banking, Retail Banking, Treasury, Trade Finance and Foreign Exchange Services along with an array of corporate and SME products such as Term Loans, Working Capital (INR as well as in Permitted Foreign Currencies), Trade Finance Products, Buyers and Suppliers Credit as well as Treasury Products and Hedging Solutions. On the retail and NRI side, the bank offers the entire range of liability products such as savings account (NRE, NRO, and ordinary), current account, term deposits (short term and long term), FCNR (B) deposits, Exchange Earners Foreign Currency
Account (EEFC), and PIS accounts. In addition for NRIs, through our collaborations, we offer home loans, wealth management, and estate and succession planning services.”
Corporate event
The Branch inauguration was followed by a corporate event ‘Bilateral Business opportunities - Tamil Nadu, India and Qatar’ at Hotel Leela Palace, Chennai in the presence of above Qatari Dignitaries, Board Members of Doha Bank and key personnel from prominent local & international corporate houses who were keen to hear about potential business opportunities between India and Qatar, and how Doha Bank can help support these activities from its presence in India (Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai), Qatar and other global locations.
Dr Seetharaman moderated a panel discussion with eminent speakers, namely Ali Ibrahim Abdullah Al-Malki, Maqbool Habeeb J Khalfan, Fahmi Al-Ghussein, Shailesh Haribhakti, Dr Kailash Mishra and Aashish P Somaiyaa. The speakers shared their views on the positive impact of the new branch on different sectors both in India and Qatar, particularly the financial services, infrastructure, and industries. They also highlighted potential bilateral investment opportunities.
Dr Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank delivered the concept note for the event. He provided insights on the global economy stating “The advanced economies are expected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2018 and 2.2 percent in 2019, according to IMF Jan 2018 Outlook. The emerging and developing economies expected to grow by 4.9 percent and 5 percent in 2018 & 2019, respectively. Federal Reserve officials have signalled they could pick up the pace of interest-rate increases to cool economic growth after next year. We are also witnessing trade divergence developments in the global space. The Fourth Industrial Revolution combines advanced technologies in innovative ways, dramatically reshaping the way people live, work and relate to one another. Fintech, internet of things, block chain and artificial intelligence are some of the major technological developments.”
Qatar economy Dr Seetharaman highlighted on Qatar economy. He said “IMF Oct 2017 had revised Qatar’s economy growth to 3.1 percent in 2018. Qatar will raise LNG production by 30 percent to 100mtpa within five to seven years after lifting a moratorium on gas development earlier in 2017. Qatar ranked 25th in ‘the Global Competitiveness Report 2017-18’. Qatar’s 2018 budget allocations for health, education and transportation reached QR83.5 billion or 41 percent of total expenditure. The transportation and other infrastructure projects were assigned the largest share in the 2018 budget with allocations of QR42.0 billion, 21 percent of total expenditure. The sports sector and 2022 FIFA World Cup projects amounted to a total allocation of QR11.2 billion. In terms of food security, Qatar now has many local companies that are supporting the country and it can develop these businesses further and boost its food production to provide both locally and internationally. The Qatari market is expected to become self-sufficient in dairy products, as Baladna Food Industries will fulfil demands of the local market. Qatar has witnessed initiatives such as ‘Single Window System’ and ‘Own your Factory in Qatar’.”