|
|
|
| Sunday, 15 January 2006 |
 |
|
 |
Business |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
ICICI sets
up branch in Lanka
by Jayampathy Jayasinghe ICICI, the second largest bank in India with a network of over 600 branches and extension counters set up a branch in Sri Lanka last week, the first occasion where the Bank had opened a branch in the SAARC outside India. The Chief Guest on the occasion were the Indian High Commissioner Nirupama Rao and the Governor of the Central Bank Sunil Mendis. The Indian High Commissioner told the inaugural ceremony that she was happy that the second largest Bank in India had set up a branch network in Sri Lanka to help both business communities of the two countries. The Central Bank Governor said that as in India the state banks dominate the banking sector in Sri Lanka. With several banks functioning in Sri Lanka the competition for the market share is rather tough, he said. ICICI's Managing Director and the CEO K.V. Kamath, told a press briefing later that the ICICI Bank had one-third of the market share in India. Like in India we hope to promote a wide range of products in Sri Lanka for the benefit of retail and corporate clients. We see a tremendous business potential in Sri Lanka and a lot of opportunity in the region. He said the bank hopes to provide credit for the small and medium class business enterprises as well as corporate clients. The bank had been successful in India because of its technology. "Fifteen percent of the Indian population use internet banking facilities." "We are delighted to announce the opening of our first branch in Sri Lanka.The ICICI Bank has made good progress in other international geographies and Sri Lanka marks one of the key steps in embarking on the next phase of international expansion. The bank proposes to target countries with high growth economies,"he said. ICICI's Joint Managing Director, Lalitha D. Gupte said the Sri Lanka branch represents an important platform in the ICICI Bank's strategy of global expansion. This would enable us to offer a range of superior products with specific solutions to cater to the corporate and retail segment, both Indian and Sri Lankan. The bank also hopes to target remittances of Indian nationals living in other countries, she said. The Senior General Manager,ICICI Bank Bhargav Dasgupta and head of Sri Lankan operations, Naveen K. Agarwal also spoke. The ICICI Bank is India's second largest bank and the largest private sector bank with over 50 years of financial experience and with assets of over USD 43 billion. The bank offers a wide range of banking products and financial services to corporate and retail customers through a variety of delivery channels and through its specialised subsidiaries that include investment banking, life and non life insurance, venture capital and asset management. ICICI Bank was the first Indian company to list on the New York Stock
Exchange. It has been receiving several awards in the banking sector such as
"The Best Bank in India, Best Retail bank in India" and several other
awards. It has branches in the United Kingdom, Canada, Singapore, Bahrain
and HongKong. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
