Doha Bank inaugurated its branch in UAE under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai represented by Sheikh Maktoum Bin Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, deputy ruler of Dubai, in the presence of dignitaries and businessmen from United Arab Emirates and State of Qatar. Doha Bank is the first Qatari bank to start its operations in the United Arab Emirates.
 
Doha Bank now has established a dominant position in Middle East banking landscape with 28 state-of-art branches, 4 Islamic branches, 11 e-branches, 11 pay offices, 2 mobile units in Doha, 1 mobile unit in Dubai with more than 100 ATMs. Geographically Doha Bank operations are spread beyond the State of Qatar with full fledged branches in New York-USA, Dubai-UAE and another coming soon in Kuwait, representative offices in Istanbul-Turkey, Tokyo-Japan, Singapore, Shanghai-China and Bucharest-Romania, and an extremely strong network of correspondent banking relationship.
 
The inauguration function was held in the branch premises, located in Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road. Thereafter, the inaugural function was followed by a grand dinner reception at Mina A'Salam Hotel.  The dinner reception was attended by dignitaries, government officials, regulators, bankers and businessmen from the State of Qatar and United Arab Emirates.
 
Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al Thani, Managing Director of Doha Bank while delivering his welcome said, "Qatar and United Arab Emirates have long standing strong fraternal ties amongst each other.  Further, United Arab Emirates is also the largest trade partner for Qatar, accounting for more than USD 1 billion value worth of Qatar's imports growing at an average of over 40% year-on-year and more than USD 1.8 billion of Qatar's exports and re-exports growing at an average of over 30% year-on-year.  Further, key projects like the Dolphin Energy Project worth USD 4.8 billion one of the largest trans-border energy projects in the world, adding significantly to the bilateral relations between Qatar and United Arab Emirates. Therefore, at this defining moment Doha Bank's Dubai Branch has been a strategic initiative to facilitate this growing bilateral trade between Qatar and United Arab Emirates".
 
Sheikh Abdul Rehman highlighted Doha Bank's comprehensive range of financial services being deployed through consumer centric technology and innovative delivery channels. Further, he also highlighted the expanded service network of Doha Bank through its 100% owned insurance company Doha Bank Assurance Company offering comprehensive general insurance solutions and through associate company Doha Brokerage & Financial Services for providing comprehensive brokerage and asset management solutions.  He said all these strategic initiatives are in line with Doha Bank's strategic vision to converge as One-stop Financial Service provider.
 
He concluded that with performance, innovation, security and quality being the hallmarks of Doha Bank's sustaining performance, Doha Bank's Dubai Branch will strive to explore avenues and strengthen the bilateral relationships between Qatar and United Arab Emirates. He welcomed individuals and corporates in United Arab Emirates to explore for a unique and rich financial service experience with Doha Bank.
 
Its worth mentioning that Doha Bank is awarded multiple accolades being the Best Bank in Qatar for many years, best bank in the Middle East for 2006 and Best Commercial Bank in the Middle East for 2007. (The Banker Magazine-Middle East).

© 2008 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)