Citibank hosts ‘China Day’ in Bangladesh

Citibank has held an event titled ‘China Day’ in Dhaka in an effort to highlight its commitment to its Chinese clients in Bangladesh.

News Deskbdnews24.com
Published : 10 April 2019, 11:42 AM
Updated : 10 April 2019, 11:42 AM

The Chinese embassy’s Economic Counsellor Li Guangjun along with clients and regional and cluster seniors of Citi attended the event.

Delivering the opening remarks, James Morrow, Citi’s sub-cluster head for Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, outlined Citi's focus on serving Chinese clients. He also stressed on securing connectivity of clients with Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI. Announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the BRI aims to connect Chinese trade and production with the rest of the world.

The ‘Belt’ aims to connect Chinese trade and production to Europe through Central Asia by land while the ‘Road’ seeks to improve Chinese maritime trade to Africa, the Middle East and Europe through South East Asia.

“BRI is a very ambitious plan that holds the potential to support the development of many countries. It is a truly transnational in scope covering over 120 countries, home to 65 percent of the world’s population and 41 percent of GDP,” said Morrow.

Citi with its worldwide network is in over half of these markets and is perfectly positioned to act as a partner, he added.

N Rajashekaran, managing director and Citi country officer in Bangladesh, said: “We are banking many of Asia’s corporate champions and major MNCs. With a global network and in-depth local market knowledge, we are uniquely positioned to advise our clients as they think through this evolutionary process and the potential future optimisation of their operations and supply chains.”

Shams Zaman, the head of Corporate and Investment Banking in Bangladesh, said, “With our local expertise and long-standing relationships with clients and regulators along the Belt & Road, it places Citi in an excellent position to be the partner of choice for clients as they move forward on the BRI”.

The event also provided an overview of Citi’s capabilities across the Belt and Road in areas such as corporate and investment banking, treasury and trade, securities services and FX solutions.