Bank of Baroda (BoB) has launched an initiatives to facilitate two-way flow of investments between India and the UAE, a senior bank offical has said.
"We have extensive network of about 3,000 branches in India, and fairly good presence in the UAE market. We will be ready to provide funds to the investors from both the countries and help them identify viable projects and suitable partners at the investment destinations," Ashok K Gupta, the bank's CEO, GCC Operations, said.
Bank of Baroda is the only Indian bank with full-fledged branches in the UAE. Gupta said that the share of the UAE in the overall FDI flows to India is only one per cent and there is tremendous scope to enhance this. India currently has very huge appetite for FDI considering its high economic growth levels and the massive expansion plans in infrastructure and several other sectors. "It will be difficult to give an estimate of the Indian investments in the UAE, because thousands of LLC firms are being run by Indian expatriates here," he said.
Last Tuesday, the bank organised a high-level meeting of corporate groups, banks, investment intermediaries and government agencies in Dubai as part of its initiatives to promote investments in both the countries.
A joint platform of investors from both the countries to facilitate two-way flow of investments was suggested at the meeting. This platform can be in the form of a joint business council comprising of the representatives from chambers of commerce and other trade bodies in both the countries. There could be regular exchange of business delegations between the UAE and India.
Ashok Gupta said the overall business of the bank in the UAE grew and two and half times to about Dh 16 billion (including deposits and advances) in the last two years, which indicated a rapid growth in the affinity of the customers in the UAE to the bank.
"The global financial meltdown seems to have boosted the confidence of the customers in BoB as we are owned by the Government. Our total business stood at 7 billion dirhams in March 2007, while it grew to 11 billion Dirhams by March 2008 and shot up to 16 billion dirhams in March 2009."