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One of India's leading banking names, HDFC Bank, has opened its first overseas fully-fledged commercial branch at the Bahrain Financial Harbour in Manama.
Aditya Puri, managing director of HDFC Bank Ltd, said: "We chose Bahrain for its convenient location, cost-effectiveness, good infrastructure and people and also to develop trade ties between India and the Middle East."
Harish Engineer, executive director of HDFC Bank Ltd, added: "Bahrain has always been the financial gateway and banking hub to the Gulf with a firm regulatory framework and an overall dynamic financial sector.
"With increased bilateral business partnerships and investments between the GCC nations and India, it was logical for HDFC Bank to use Bahrain as its first stepping stone to increase its direct international presence by opening its first fully-fledged overseas branch here to tap the growth potential in the region."
Central Bank of Bahrain governor Rasheed Al Maraj inaugurated the office in the presence of Mr Puri, Mr Engineer and K S R Upadhya, chief executive of HDFC Bank, Bahrain.
The new branch, boasting 25 staff members, will offer cash management and trade finance solutions for corporate clients and wealth management services for NRIs (Non Resident Indians).
Mr Engineer said: "HDFC Bank will now partner with Bahrain's 300,000 strong Indian community, which has an impressive and long standing reputation for business and trade across the region and around the world."
A recent study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) states that the country's total trade with GCC countries witnessed a four-fold increase in the last five years and indicates the huge trade potential between the two regions.
The trade volume rose to $22.5 billion (BD8.48 billion) in the fiscal year ending March 2007 from $5.6 billion in 2001. The share of GCC countries in India's total trade (excluding oil imports) has increased from about 7.1 per cent in 2001 to 8.7 per cent in 2007.
Mr Puri said the global financial crisis has bypassed India.
He said: "Our GDP (gross domestic product) has dropped from 8.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent this year.
"It may drop to seven per cent next year, but still India remains one of the fastest growing economies in the world."
The HDFC bank was set up by the Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC) in August 1994 and was one of the first organisations to receive an in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to set up a bank in the private sector.
