BankMed eyes further expansion in Iraq

After opening its Baghdad branch this week, the bank is looking to open in Basra

BankMed officially launched its branch in Bagdad on Monday (June 11), its second branch in Iraq after Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, which was launched last month.

BankMed also has plans to expand to Basra.

Muhieddine Fathallah, business development manager at BankMed, said that the bank’s activity in Iraq is mainly focused on reinforcing bilateral business relations. “Lebanon and Iraq have significant mutual commercial and industrial projects, plus we already have many of our customers launching projects in Iraq,” said Fathallah.

BankMed will offer a range of services to the Iraqi market. It will issue trade guarantees, open letters of credits to countries around the world, and exchange instruments issued by various international banks.

BankMed is already present in the Cypriot, Saudi, Turkish, and Swiss markets through affiliates or subsidiaries.

BankMed reported net profits of $29 million in the first quarter of 2012, a 14 percent rise from the same period last year. Its total assets stood at $13.6 billion at end-2011.

Reported by Abeer Darwiche