Emirates NBD Signs MoM With South Korea's Second-Biggest Bank

Tom Burroughes

12 February 2013

Emirates NBD, the Middle East-based group providing services including private banking, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Woori Bank, South Korea’s second largest bank, the firms announced yesterday.

The MoM is designed to strengthen the trade partnership between the United Arab Emirates and South Korea while and encourage “smoother business operations” for South Korean firms in UAE and the rest of Gulf Co-operation Council region, the banks said in a statement.

The MoU signing ceremony was held at the Emirates NBD Head Office in Dubai, UAE, with several senior officials present, including Mr. Rick Pudner - Group CEO, Emirates NBD, Mr. Soon-Woo Lee - CEO, Woori Bank, Mr. Bhanu Vittalam - Head of International Institutional Banking, Emirates NBD along with other delegates from South Korea.

“I am pleased to announce the signing of the MOU between Emirates NBD and Woori Bank, which will provide comprehensive banking services to South Korean business entities operating in UAE, KSA and other GCC countries. The MOU will further offer an end to end platform to conduct increased levels of trade flows between the GCC and South Korea,” Rick Pudner, group chief executive at Emirates NBD, said.

Recent economic statistics were cited by the firms as reasons why the agreement will benefit both sides. For example, last year, trade between UAE and South Korea grew by 21 per cent to a $26.6 billion – a record - with UAE being South Korea's largest export market in the Middle East.