Banca Popolare di Vi cenza of Italy opens Rep office

New Delhi, Apr 29 (UNI) The Banca Popolare di Vi cenza, a 140-year old Bank from North Eastern part of Italy, today opened a Representative Office here to promote trade, services and Joint Ventures between the two countries.

''Our Bank has a long history of dealing with Indian banks, such as State Bank of India and Punjab National Bank. We have already extended a line of credit to the local banks in India to the tune of 30 million Euros,'' President of the Italian Bank Cav Lav Dott Gianni Zonin told a Press Conference here.

Mr Zonin said as many as 5,000 Italian companies are looking for establishing ventures in India and many others want to do business.

There are already 100 companies from the Vicenza (North Easter Italy), the area from where Banca Poplare has its headquarers.

The Bank, which has as many as 534 sales outlets in Italy, has a wide-shareholding and is popularly perceived as the common man's financial institution.

On the International front, the Bank has one subsidary in Ireland--BPV Finance (International) PLC-Dublin, and two representative offices in China--Hong Kong and Shanghai. After Milan and Turin, the Province of Vicenza is in the third most industrialised area in Italy.

The Bank has recently signed an agreement with the EXIM Bank for promoting investments from Italy into India and vice versa.

The servies that will be provided by the Bank's New Delhi office include commercial promotion of Italian products; participation in fairs, exhibitions and other events; research of business opportunities and potential customers; commercial information regarding local companies ; correspondent banking activity aimed at channeling payments and solving general banking problems; and resolution of general logistic problems.

The Representative Office is located at Barakhamba Road in Central Delhi and the management said the capital of the country was an ideal location as the type and nature of business that it will promote is from the Northern Region.

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