Afghanistan International Bank looks to UAE-Afghan socio-economic ties to strengthen growing commercial success

Talking after the meeting Khalilullah Sediq, Chief Executive Officer of AIB and former governor of the Afghanistan Central Bank, said, "Trade between Afghanistan and the UAE was already some AED2bn in 2011, which may sound modest but is actually a hugely important amount in an economy recovering from years of war."

"The UAE is a key trading partner for Afghanistan, because of its location, good business envi-ronment, and the fact that the Afghan community within the UAE forms the second largest diaspora of Afghans after the United States. Targeting this inter-country economic activity therefore, has become a fundamental aspect to AIB's growth strategy," he added.

There are thought to be up to 200,000 Afghans living in the UAE. As UAE based companies continue to see commercial opportunity within the pre-emerging market of Afghanistan, it is essential for the economic development of Afghanistan that there exists a viable and trusted financial institution to support this activity.

"Despite the challenges faced in Afghanistan, commercial success for AIB continues to grow because of an increase in the market share of domestic clients and the expansion of foreign companies turning to AIB as the viable banking option within the country," Sediq said.

Major UAE companies such as Etisalat are among AIB's over 100,000 clients. The Afghanistan International Bank has been steadily increasing links with UAE financial insti-tutions. The bank has developed a set of special relationships with local UAE banks, who introduce clients that want to do business in Afghanistan to the Afghanistan International Bank. Over for their quarterly board meeting the Afghanistan International Bank is also meeting with Emirates NBD to extend these relationships further.

The Afghanistan International Bank is today the leading Afghan commercial bank, and was recognized last week by the oldest publication in the banking industry, The Banker, as Afghan Bank of the Year 2012 at its annual awards ceremony in London. The bank has some 100,000 customers including many international governmental, non-governmental and commercial organisations operating in Afghanistan.

In Afghanistan itself, the Afghanistan International Bank in September completed a strategic Cooperation Agreement with Standard Chartered, which enables Standard Chartered to ser-vice its clients in Afghanistan through AIB, is acknowledgement of the bank's commitment to international best practice and governance standards as the bank continues to strengthen partnerships with key financial institutions within the region.