By Tom Arnold

DUBAI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Dutch bank ING Group INGA.AS is aiming to expand its business in the Middle East where it sees greater demand for bank finance and advisory work after the slump in oil prices, its regional chief executive said.

ING has already added several new senior staff in Dubai including Serge Rahman as head of wholesale banking in the region, and Howard Lambert as head of corporate clients. They will aim to tap business in areas like mergers and acquisitions, green finance and commodity, currency and interest rate hedging.

Gerald Walker, chief executive of ING in the UK, Ireland and the Middle East, said he hoped that the region, where ING has had a presence since 1978, would contribute a larger proportion of the group's revenues in the coming years, without elaborating.

"There is change as a consequence of the oil price dip and there is consequently a greater role for private finance in this region," Walker told Reuters in an interview.

"You see a need for cost constraint across the region, which will drive decisions."

He said this opened up opportunities for ING in finance, divestment of or investment in assets, or helping companies hedge currencies, commodities or interest rates.

Last November, for example, ING was among banks that helped to arrange Commercial Bank of Dubai's CBD.DU $400 million five year bond.

More than two years of sluggish oil prices have already led to consolidation among companies in the region as well as fundraising by companies and governments.

National Bank of Abu Dhabi NBAD.AD and First Gulf Bank FGB.AD announced a planned merger in June and Saudi Arabia has just conducted the largest-ever emerging market bond sale, selling $17.5 billion of debt in its first international offer.

Companies in the region with international business have also been hit by volatility in currency markets.

ING "sat on its hands" in the region in the wake of Dubai's debt crisis and in some cases worked through some quite severe problems with its clients, Walker said.

ING will supplement its team of around a dozen people in the region by flying in specialist bankers from its base in the Netherlands and elsewhere to advise clients on certain areas, he said.

(Editing by Jane Merriman) ((Tom.Arnold@thomsonreuters.com; +97144536265; Reuters Messaging: tom.arnold.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))