A high-level strategic meeting was held between the top representatives of Bangladesh Commercial Bank City Bank and the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) recently. Engineer Adib Yusuf Al Ama, chief executive officer of the company, led the ITFC delegation at the bilateral meeting held at the head office of the city bank. On the other hand, Masroor Arefin, managing director and CEO of the bank, was in charge of the delegation on behalf of City Bank. Senior officials of the Board of Directors and Management of both the banks participated in the meeting.
City Bank’s strong partnership with ITFC, a subsidiary of the Islamic Development Bank (ISDB) Group, was launched in 2019. At present, the city bank has a Murabaha trade financing facility worth $4 billion in ITFC, which also includes a syndicated facility worth $1 billion. This long-standing integrated scope is basically playing a big role in Bangladesh’s international trade activities and is constantly running the bank’s foreign trade.
The bilateral strategic talks focused on the unveiling of new areas of trade support, beyond the existing financial benefits. The two sides discussed various opportunities, especially to strengthen the country’s export sector, increase investment in eco-friendly and sustainable projects, and increase domestic trade transactions of the OIC countries.
City Bank believes that the talks with global institutions like ITFC will multiply the scope of Shariah-e-compliant trade financing activities. At the same time, it will create international opportunities in Bangladesh’s major trade sectors and contribute long-term contribution to the overall economic growth of the country.