PNB to open rep office in Norway; aggresive overseas expansion plans

New Delhi, Jul 30 (UNI) Aimed at widening its international exposure, Punjab National Bank (PNB) today announced it will soon open a rep office in Norway and has lined up a slew of expansion plans in other overseas markets.

PNB CMD K C Chakrabarty told a news conference here that the Bank will soon open a branch in Bhutan for which it already got permission from local authorities as well as the Reseve Bank of India.

Mr Chakrabarty said plans are also afoot to open a full-fledged branch in Dubai.

Plans are at an advanced stage to open a branch in Shanghai.

Mr Chakrabarty said the Bank is in negotiation with the Canadian government for opening up a subsidiary branch of PNB.

He said it takes a long time to get clearances from the Canadian government for overseas banks to open up offices in that country.

But, Mr Chakrabarty exuded confidence that its plans pertaining to Canada will materialise soon.

The CMD was of the view that while it cannot become an international bank in foreseeable future, it wants to gain greater and greater international exposure.

This will help the Bank adopt the best practices to its domestic operations, which will enable PNB to become an efficient entity.

''The idea is to prepare the Bank for the onslaught of global competition which will ensue here as a result of the changing policy environment,'' he said.

He said it is only after the year 2040 or so that India becomes the largest economy in the globe, that the second largest bank will be able to become an international bank on the lines of Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank.

Till such time, PNB will continue to expand its overseas operations while being basically domestically driven.

UNI MP/GS AB AS1638