JEDDAH, 21 March 2008 — The State Bank of India’s (SBI) first branch in Saudi Arabia will be located at Al-Andalus Plaza on Sitteen Street here. This follows a building lease agreement signed on Wednesday.
Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency (SAMA) gave the clearance to SBI last year to open its full-fledged branch in the Kingdom.
J. Parameshwarappa, general manager for Saudi Arabia of India’s largest bank, inked the deal with Zafer Salem Ali Al-Qahatani.
“With this, the bank has taken an important step of identifying premises for its operation in the Kingdom,” Parameshwarappa told Arab News. “The bank will start functioning from this location once it is ready in all respects,” he said, adding that the bank’s immediate concern is to set up all the required facilities to serve its customers efficiently in the coming few months.
The bank has chosen the location keeping in mind the convenience of customers including the parking facilities.
“Sitteen Street will take pride in the fact that it is home to one of the reputable international banks,” he said.
With the opening of its 10,000th branch in India recently, the SBI has become the second largest bank in the world, next only to the ICBC of China in terms of branch numbers. And with its 4,000-plus associate bank branches, the SBI claims to have extensive coverage of India and also internationally. The bank also has the largest ATM network across India.
In recent years, the bank sought to expand its overseas operations by buying foreign banks, launching new products and services for foreigners and Indian Diaspora as well as by opening new branches in different countries including the Gulf states.
The bank’s branch here will go a long way in meeting the requirements of businessmen in general and Indian expatriates in particular. The bank’s “Speed remittance” system is seen as a prime attraction, the other being businessmen’s needs in the rapidly growing trade relations between Saudi Arabia and India.
The Indian community has welcomed the SBI branch’s location in Jeddah and said they have been looking forward to it.
“With the SBI coming, my remittance problems will be taken care of,” said Abdul Rahman Thalingozhi, an Indian grocery store assistant at Faisaliah. “I always had a problem of sending remittances to my native town which is in the interior of southern Indian Kerala state. I can now look forward to instant remittance service from the SBI,” he added.