Bank of India has opened a branch at the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) with a category 1 banking licence. The bank intends to extend its reach to Middle East and Africa customers through its DIFC branch. It has presence in 24 countries including the DIFC branch. Jayant Sinha, minister of state for finance, inaugurated the branch. He said Dubai has emerged as a regional and global financial hub and it is a very important destination for Indian financial institutions including public sector banks with global ambitions. The bank expects to expand both assets and liabilities side of the balance sheet of its Dubai operations initially from the large Indian business community based in the UAE and Middle East and eventually expand to the international business community in the region. Vijayalakshmi R. Iyer, CMD of the bank, said the bank has a large customer base from global Indian business community and Dubai being a global business hub, its existing business customers from both India and across the world are excited about the new branch.
