Arab Bank begins UAE expansion despite global crisis

Arab Bank will expand services in its eight UAE branches despite the fallout of the global financial crisis.

Senior Vice-President and Area Manager for UAE, Sa'ed Jarallah, told Emirates Business the bank started a big expansion plan, and last week it introduced several Islamic banking products in its main branch in Abu Dhabi. Most prominent of those are Islamic finance products that are in high demand, he said.

The bank will launch the same services in Dubai and Sharjah branches soon.

Jarallah said the bank's UAE branches netted profits last year despite the crisis. "We achieved a good rate of growth last year, and we sent a report on our positive results to the Central Bank for endorsement before announcing them."

He said the loan-to-deposit ratio is now less than 80 per cent, a good percentage. "Our financial ability is strong, and we have sufficient liquidity to finance several infrastructure projects in the UAE."

Jarallah said the bank has projects with Mubadala as well as other projects in the electricity field. The bank continues to finance its projects without any delay, he said.

He added 40 per cent of the finance available is directed towards government projects, while the remaining 60 per cent is used in financing the private sector.

For some 40 years, Arab Bank has been a pioneer in financing UAE's important projects, said Jarallah, adding: "We have been very cautious towards real estate loans as well as share loans. And we have made sure after the crisis that our customers have strong financial ability, and there are no defaulters."

Jarallah said the bank's personnel sector has contracted as a result of the global financial crisis, describing it as a natural thing that has not affected the bank's expansion plan in the UAE.

He said Arab Bank's 500 branches in 30 countries of the world have been affected by the fallout. Jarallah added the UAE is making big efforts to support its local economy and to meet the liquidity shortage, adding that the global crisis has prompted banks to correct their financial situation and management structure.

Jarallah said the lender has not terminated services of any staff in UAE branches, adding Arab Bank, just like other big banks and companies, is rationalising its internal expenses.

He expected to see positive things in the UAE market over the next six months as the country would be among the first Arab countries to overcome the fallout of the global financial crisis.

Jarallah said Arab Bank's Abu Dhabi branch will today start to receive requests by Jordanian expatriates in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain to join the expatriate social security project in Jordan and which is executed by the Social Security Corporation of Jordan in support with the Jordanian Embassy in Abu Dhabi.

Branches in Dubai and the Northern Emirates will start to receive requests soon, he added. The project is meant to meet the policy of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan to provide security for Jordanian expatriates. There are some 200,000 Jordanians in the UAE.

The project was started by Arab Bank in Kuwait three years ago and is a big success. The second phase is in the UAE and the third will be in the rest of GCC countries.

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