CAIRO, JANUARY 30, 2018 – Egyptian investment bank EFG Hermes has opened a representative office in Bangladesh, a top bank executive said on Tuesday.
“Bangladesh is a key market as part of our drive to expand our representation in high-potential frontier emerging markets,” EFG Hermes Holding Group Chief Executive Officer Karim Awad said in a statement.
One of the largest investment banks in the Middle East, EFG Hermes is ramping up execution capabilities in markets such as Vietnam, Argentina, Morocco and Nigeria, Ali Khalpey, chief executive for frontier operations, told Reuters.
The Bangladesh office will initially be to “facilitate the investment of foreign portfolios and our direct investment clients who want to invest directly in the broader economy of Bangladesh in sectors such as financial services, pharmaceuticals and infrastructure,” Khalpey said in response to emailed questions from Reuters.
Hermes currently operates in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Kenya and the United States.
The bank is interested in “the West African market and Nigeria in particular, which has seen economic improvement and reforms by the Central Bank of Nigeria that led to the improvement of the foreign exchange market’s performance,” Khalpey said.
