Emirates NBD Bur Dubai Souq branch becomes eighth dedicated business banking centre

Focus on servicing high growth in SME sector

Dubai, July 4, 2012: Emirates NBD, a leading bank in the region, announced today the official inauguration of its new Business Banking Bur Dubai Souq Centre in Bur Dubai's souq district.

The newly opened Emirates NBD branch brings the total of exclusive Business Banking Centres to eight, which are spread across the UAE. The centre has a dedicated team of relationship managers & customer sales representatives and a dedicated trade team offering a full suite of products and services.

Attending the official inauguration were Suvo Sarkar, General Manager, Retail Banking, Emirates NBD, Vikas Thapar, Head - Business Banking, Emirates NBD, Vikram Krishna, Head - Group Marketing and Branding, Emirates NBD, Saif Al Mansoori, Deputy Head - Group Marketing and Branding, Emirates NBD, Biresh Chakraborty, Centre Head of the Business Banking Souk Centre, Emirates NBD.

The opening of the facility has been driven by increasing demand from the burgeoning Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector. The Dubai Department of Economic Development recently announced the launch of the "SME Friendliness Index" to help enable banks to access 230,000 SMEs in the country and realise up to AED 6 billion in SME financing revenue opportunities.

"Our new Emirates NBD Souq Centre will bring us even closer to the trading community in one of Dubai's most-established business districts, Bur Dubai," said Suvo Sarkar, General Manager, Retail Banking, Emirates NBD. "The expansion of our network of Business Banking Centres is driven by a mounting interest in our services from existing and potential clients, which in turn reflects the growing importance of the SME sector to the UAE economy."

Emirates NBD has eight dedicated Business Banking Centres in the UAE, and a team of dedicated relationship managers and product specialists to meet the evolving needs of its clients. The business unit is also supported by a specialised team that regularly evaluates its products and portfolio.

Vikas Thapar, Head of Business Banking, Emirates NBD, said, "The opening of the new Business Banking Bur Dubai Souq Centre represents an important step in our long-term strategy to meet the transaction, trade and lending needs of SMEs. Emirates NBD have committed significant resources towards this objective, which is fully supported by the bank's senior management."

The new centre servicing the SME business community is open from 8AM-4PM from Saturday to Thursday.

-Ends-

About Emirates NBD
Emirates NBD is a leading banking Group in the region. As at 31 December 2011, total assets were AED 284.6 billion. The Group has a leading retail banking franchise in the UAE, with over 168 branches and over 780 ATMs and SDMs.  It is a major player in the UAE corporate banking arena and has strong Islamic banking, Global Markets & Treasury, Investment Banking, Private Banking, Asset Management and Brokerage operations.

The Group has operations in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Jersey (Channel Islands), and representative offices in India and Iran.

The Group is an active participant and supporter of the UAE's main development initiatives and of the various educational, environmental, cultural, charity and community welfare establishments.

For more information, please visit: www.emiratesnbd.com

For further information, please contact:
Iman Ahmed
Senior Manager Media Relations
Asda'a Burson - Marsteller
i.ahmed@asdaa.com
Mobile: 050 2058021

Afaf Jbara / Hassan Al Khuwaildi
Communications
Group Marketing, Emirates NBD
Tel: 971-4-6093481 / 971-4-6093459
Mob: 971 50 8842020 / 971 50 7454454
Email: Afafj@emiratesbank.com / HassanAl@emiratesnbd.com

Sudha Chandran/ Nicholas Nesson
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
Dubai, UAE
Tel: 971-4-4507600
Fax: 971-4-4358040
Email: sudha.chandran@bm.com/ nicholas.nesson@bm.com  

© Press Release 2012