Azernews.Az

German banking giant Commerzbank has opened a representation in Azerbaijan. This brings the number of its representative offices abroad to 28 and to seven in the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Commerzbank intends to further boost economic development in the fast-growing Caucasus region by branching out.
Martin Blessing, member of the bank's Board of Managing Directors, told a news conference held on this occasion in Baku on Thursday that Commerzbank planned to forge ties with Azerbaijan's banking sector and business circles.
"I am delighted that Commerzbank is now represented in the Caucasus. Our new office in Baku is another step in our growth strategy for Central and Eastern Europe," Blessing said.
The representation will initially cover the markets of Azerbaijan and Georgia. The bank will provide one-of-the-kind services aimed at drawing German businessmen to Azerbaijan. Its key objective is to work closely with the National Bank of Azerbaijan (NBA), other local banks, the government, international institutions and local business communities. Moreover, the Commerzbank office will provide information to its corporate clients interested in exploring economic growth opportunities in both Azerbaijan and Georgia. The office will also carry out market research.
Head of Commerzbank's Financial Institutions Per Fischer noted that the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was increasing at an annual rate of over 30% and the new representation's goal was to boost investment in the region.
Fischer said the banking giant has already opened subsidiaries, branches and representative offices in 43 countries. More than 20 Azerbaijani commercial banks have chosen Commerzbank as their correspondent partner-bank. Depending on the success of the Baku representation's operation, its status could be upgraded to a subsidiary in the future.
Fischer did not rule out that the German major would acquire a participating interest in a local bank as well.
He emphasized that in the past years 15% of Germany's foreign trade with Azerbaijan was handled by Commerzbank. The last ladnmark deal, inked in December 2007, covered the allocation by the German bank of a $130 million syndicated loan to the International Bank of Azerbaijan, the South Caucasus republic's leading bank.
The central bank granted the license for Commerzbank's Baku office last November. It will be headed by Marco Graff, who has already gained a wealth of experience in the banking business of the former Soviet republics from more than a decade of service to Commerzbank in Central Asia and Russia.

Two more banks
Two more banks are expected to launch operation in Azerbaijan soon, a central bank executive said.
One of them will be Turkey's Turkiye Is Bankasi, while the other bank will operate with both local and foreign capital, the NBA executive director Rufat Aslanli told the press Friday.
"Turkiye Is Bankasi has already officially appealed to us for the purpose, while the opening of the other bank will take place based on the two-stage licensing procedures envisioned by the national legislation," the bank official said.
Aslanli did not specify when the financial institutions would start operation, saying the process of opening them was still under way.
46 banks are currently operating in the country, of which two - Pasha Bank and Eurasia Bank - were opened in late 2007.