Emirates NBD holds intensive two day workshop in India

Largest bank in GCC in terms of assets aims to strengthen business relationships in rapidly growing Indian market

Dubai 24 February, 2008

A Senior Management team from Emirates NBD, the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates and the GCC region by assets, is holding an intensive workshop which seeks to build upon the bank's current knowledge and experience of the Indian financial services market in Mumbai. The workshop aims to familiarise senior management of Emirates NBD with the latest developments in the Indian economy and the financial services sector The workshop will include a reception, where Mr. Rick Pudner, CEO of Emirates NBD will be hosting heads of Indian financial services companies to exchange views.

Emirates NBD is the largest bank in the UAE with assets totalling USD 69 billion and has recently announced its annual results recording a net profit of more than USD 1 billion. The group introduced 88 new ATM's in 2007 taking the total number of ATMs to 440, the largest ATM network of any bank in the UAE and opened 19 branches making a total of 114 branches. The Group also has operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Kingdom and Jersey (Channel Islands), and representative offices in India, Iran and Singapore.

"This intensive workshop will help to further build on our current knowledge and experience in the Indian market. We are also aiming to gain insights into the rapidly growing Indian financial services sector by meeting with banks based in India and regulatory bodies. With the existing strong trading and cultural links, Emirates NBD through its large branch network in the UAE and GCC region, provides a full range of banking products and services to the large non-resident Indian population and to businesses both in the UAE and India", said Rick Pudner.

"Emirates NBD was formed to take the banking industry in the GCC region to an international level. We are well positioned as the leading UAE banking group to benefit from continuing growth in the UAE and promising markets such as India. Our presence here today is part of our strategy to expand our business outside the UAE and India is an important strategic market for us. We are confident that this is the first step towards a more fruitful and long-term relationship in this promising market," added Rick Pudner.

Emirates NBD already has with a presence in India through an existing representative office based in Mumbai headed by Mr. Sunil Gulati. In addition, Emirates NBD has tie-ups with two major Indian banks, HDFC and ICICI, providing its customers with seamless business transactions between the GCC region and India.

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