The National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), the Number One Bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to enhance partnership between the two banks and facilitate greater business development between UAE and the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The MoU provides NBAD and ICBC a platform to build on bilateral trade and business cooperation between Asia and GCC.

Mark Yassin, the Senior General Manager of Corporate and Investment Banking Division of NBAD, and Luo Xi, Senior Executive Vice President of ICBC, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective institutions.

UAE-China trade is expected to grow beyond Dhs100bn (Dhs367.31bn) by 2015 from $26bn currently.

"Historically, there has always been active trade between the UAE and China, however, there has been a rapid growth in the last few years. Continuous economic development and trade flows as well as growing demand for investment have created more demands for financial cooperation between both countries. Naturally, this lends itself to greater business opportunities for UAE and Chinese companies," Mr. Yassin said.

NBAD, the most active UAE bank in the global arena, inaugurated a Hong Kong branch in December 2009 and plans to launch operations in Shanghai soon. NBAD is increasingly the conduit of business between the Arab world and the Far East.

"This is why we sought a capable partner in China and it is with pride and pleasure that we enter into this agreement with ICBC. The strategies of ICBC and NBAD compliment each other and I am confident this would be a very fruitful partnership." Said Mr. Yassin

ICBC, one of the largest banks in the world, with RMB14.90 trillion ($2.32 trillion) in assets, is planning to increase its presence in the Middle East in order to capitalize on growing trade between UAE and China.

ICBC is also the world’s most profitable bank, has a market capitalisation of over $208bn, making it the world’s largest listed bank having almost 4 million corporate clients and 216 million individual customers through its global network.

NBAD is ranked one of the world’s 50 safest banks, and the safest bank in the Middle East. NBAD’s growing international network comprises more than 50 branches spanning Hong Kong, Oman, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt, Sudan, Libya, France, Switzerland, the UK and the US, making the largest overseas network for a UAE bank.

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