Source:BL:PTI:Sep02,2010:3.28pm
TEL AVIV: State Bank of India’s branch here has broken even in its just second year of its operations, defying speculations by some analysts who saw it as an unwise move to open a branch at a time when other foreign banks were shutting down their offices in the country.
SBI became the first bank to open a branch at the Israeli diamond exchange in June 2007 to encash on the burgeoning Indo-Israel trade.
Sources at Bank of Israel confirmed SBI’s remarkable progress, and also executives of other Israeli companies working with the Indian bank.
After fulfilling all obligations and paying desirable taxes to the authorities concerned, the Indian bank still seems to have made an incredible progress by registering some profits during its early years of operations.
“It has set an example for other foreign banks to follow,” a senior executive of a leading Israeli company doing business with India, said.
The outgoing CEO of SBI, Ms V. Sashikala, while speaking to PTI did not comment on this but said that “the bank has managed to successfully prepare its client base across various sectors and as per its strategy made sure that there is no overwhelming rel iance on one particular sector.’’
Indo-Israel trade has been diversifying over the years and even though trade in diamond still constitutes some 50 per cent of the bilateral trade, other sectors have picked up in a big way. The bilateral trade between the two countries continues to incre ase registering $4 billion in 2008 and is projected to reach $5 billion this year.
“None of the sectors can claim a share of more than 20 per cent in our portfolio,” Ms Sashikala said.
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