Barclays looks to success in Pakistan
Christine Seib
Barclays has shrugged off unrest and political turmoil in
Pakistan to open its first three branches in the country.
The branches in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore
that open their doors today are part of an initial $100 million (£54 million)
investment and will be followed by seven more, plus ten sales centres, by the
end of the year.
A Barclays spokesman said that the
decision to open in Pakistan
was a sign of the bank's confidence in the region's long-term potential.
Frits Seegers, chief executive
of Barclays' global retail and commercial business who was in Pakistan for the opening, said: “As Pakistan
is the sixth-most populous country in the world, it furthers our strategy of
increasing coverage in emerging markets with good growth characteristics. And
it fits our criteria for entry, as a country where we believe we can win a top
five position as one of the country's leading banks.”
Pakistan's banking sector offers only 50
branches per million people, compared with about 200 in the UK. There are more than 167million
people in Pakistan
and income per capita has doubled over the past five years.
Barclays won a banking licence from the State Bank of Pakistan
last December and promises a more aggressive expansion next year. The new
operations come after Barclays' acquisition in March of Expobank,
of Russia,
for £373 million. Barclays is keen to demonstrate that it can grow organically
as well as by acquisition.
Barclays will offer basic consumer, commercial and
treasury products in Pakistan
and plans to move into other areas, such as car finance, credit cards and
internet banking in the future. Mohsin Nathani, who
joined Barclays from Citigroup last year, will run the
business.
Meanwhile, Barclays donated $500,000 to Unicef in Pakistan yesterday to support child
education and protection centres and to send 200 child labourers to school. Mr Seegers said: “Our social investment in Pakistan through Unicef reflects Barclays' broader commitment to the
country.”
The Times
August 26, 2008
