First of all, congratulations on your 70th anniversary of the Bank. Could you briefly outline the rich history of the Bank, ever since its inception up to now?
My father started the Bank, way back in 1930. I joined the Bank in 1936, after I had finished my education in the United States. It has a long history. My father and I worked together to establish it and we had numerous staff, although it was very difficult to find good people. Banking had only been recently established so we really had to train our people well. We sent many of our staff outside Jordan, to Europe and the United States, to our corresponding banks, whose help we really appreciated. Now we have training centres where we train our staff, but we still sometimes send some of them overseas, to other banks. That is the way the Bank started and evolved, and it has been very successful since the beginning, in 1930. We are very proud of the Arab Bank and we consider it one of the major banks in the Arab world. We are up to the standard of European or American banks.
Your results for 1999 came out very recently. Could you give us an overview of the major financial results of the Bank?
The major financial results will be given to the press. We will have a general meeting at the end of this month and it will be distributed to the press and to the international media. Although the Bank was very successful in 1999, contrary to our expectations the economy in the Arab world was not exceptionally good. But our major branches in Europe and the United States had good results.
When was your bank first quoted on the stock exchange? When did you decide to go public?
We have been public almost from the beginning, although, at that time we did not have many shareholders. Currently, we have over 5000 shareholders and they are all over the Arab world. Recently, since the Central Bank of Jordan allowed even foreign citizens to buy shares, we have had many Funds buying our shares, but the majority of share holders are still Arab shareholders.
The Arab Bank has been involved in funding numerous development projects, namely in industry, tourism, education and transport. Could you tell us a little bit about these projects and the strategy of the Bank to invest in the major infrastructure and other projects in the country?
It is our objective to support the Arab economy, especially in Jordan. We have approved many loans in Jordan and other Arab countries, and we are a major player in that respect. We supported the French company, France Telecom, for the privatisation of the Jordan Telecommunications Company, and we are ready to support all other such companies. It is our duty to support the economy of Jordan and to support companies interested in investing in Jordan.
You have also created, very recently, the Arab National Company and the Arab Company for Financial Consultation. What was the strategy behind the creation of these two ventures?
This was done in order to support our various shareholders and general public, to advise them on investment and other issues. It is our duty to support shares of those interested in investing in Jordan, or even outside Jordan.
In the banking community there has been a lot of rumours about mergers. A lot of people are saying that there are too many banks, and in order to compete on the international scale a lot of the banks are looking to merge with other banks. Is the Arab Bank looking at buying out some smaller banks here, in Jordan?
We have not done any merging because it was out of the question in the Middle East. However, some of it has been starting now in some of the Arab countries, and I hope that Jordan will follow the currents in the Arab world and in the rest of the world.
We do not do things like in the United States, where they try to approach people and demand that they merge with them. It is not our habit. But if any of the other banks wishes to merge with us, they can come and discuss the matter with us. We will look it over and see if it is in our interest to merge with that bank.
| So you are open to possible mergers or acquisitions?
We are open to mergers, but right now we are not really looking into it.
One of the strengths of the Arab Bank is its international presence. You are present in over 30 countries. Could you tell us a little bit about the markets that you are present in and, also, are you looking at increasing your presence in the new countries?
We are one of the Arab banks who are present in most of the European countries as well as in the United States, and I think that, of all the Arab banks, we are the most present in the international markets. Now we are going to Algeria and starting a branch there.
One of the important aspects of the bank is its regional role as far as the top Arab bank. Could you talk a little bit about that important regional role of the Arab Bank?
The Arab Bank already has a strong presence in the Arab world, with exception of the countries that have nationalized our branches, like Syria, Iraq, Sudan and Lybia. But we have a presence in almost every other Arab country. The Arab Bank is both an international and an Arab bank.
In order to compete internationally, as you are doing now, has the Arab Bank made some major investments, and if so, in which areas?
We invest in all areas. We invest in the United States, we invest in Europe, we take loans in various sectors of the industry in Europe and in the United States, we have investments on the international markets everywhere where we think it is in the interest of the Bank to have an investment. The Arab Bank was also the first bank in the area which computerized the bank investment, way back in the early 50s. And all our branches are computerized. Now we are much more advanced than any other bank in the area.
Businessmen who read the "Forbes" magazine are always looking for potential investment opportunities. Are there any opportunities for investment with the Arab Bank?
We are open to invest anywhere, we have no restrictions. Now that the Central Bank and the Government of Jordan have lifted the sanctions, we are free to invest in any market in Europe, in the United States and in other Arab countries.
Could you also tell us a little about the Shoman Foundation and its cultural mission?
We established the Shoman Foundation in the name of my father, when he passed away in 1974. It is separate from the Bank, but we have three members of the family of the Bank who are on the Board of Trustees, with other members who are either from other Arab countries or from Jordan. The Foundation has its own trust, its own fund and its own income. But, maybe the Bank will support the Foundation by giving it a certain amount of money, as decided by the members of the board.
What is the core purpose of the Foundation?
It was established for education purposes, but we also give contributions to many cultural projects in the Arab world. We are now planning to establish an office in Palestine, but until now the Israelis have not given us the permission to have a section of the Foundation there. We have been asking for it for 5 years.
And you still do not have it?
Until now, they have not given us the permission.
Would you have a final message for our readers?
I would like to say that the Arab Bank is happy to be participating in the Arab world, in its economy, and we are also happy that we are participating in the European economy and in the United States. We also have a presence in the Far East, in Australia, in Hong Kong, and in China. We are very happy to be supporting the economy of the Arab world, Europe and the Far East. |
ARAB BANK GROUP