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NT Bureau
Chennai, May 15:

        ICICI Bank has received a license to set up a branch at Qatar Financial Centre, Doha. Interestingly, ICICI Bank is the first Indian bank to received a license from Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Authority.

        This branch would be fourth office of ICICI Bank in the GCC region after the Dubai representative office, the Bahrain branch and the DIFC branch in Dubai. The licence has been granted after due diligence conducted by the QFCRA and the Reserve Bank of India.

        Meenal Mahajan has been appointed as the Resident Manager in-charge of the branch and she will be located in Doha, Qatar. The bank's business development within the GCC markets will be aided by the ICICI group's high standard among the Asia community and among Indian corporations and multinationals.

        ICICI Bank deputy managing director Chanda Kocchar said, 'With the pace of economic growth and development in Qatar, ICICI Bank sees a significant opportunity to participate in the growth of the country. We are delighted to set up a branchat QFC. The QFC with its advanced regulatory framework provides the necessary platform to expand the international private banking operations for ICICI Bank.'

        It may be noted that ICICI Bank had set up International Banking Group to implement a focussed strategy for its international banking business. The bank's global presence currently spans17 countries and includes wholly owned subsidiaries in the United Kingdom, Canada and Russia, offshore banking units in Singapore and Bahrain, a branch in Dubai and Qatar, branches in Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, Belgium and representative offices in US, China, UAE, Bangladesh, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.