By Pratap John/Chief Business Reporter


Sheikh Mohamed (centre) with CEO Steve Troop at Barwa Bank’s general assembly meeting at the weekend
Barwa Bank will be able to consolidate its position on the strong foundation built and the strong leap it made in 2010, chairman Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani has said.
He was addressing the bank’s general assembly meeting in Doha over the weekend.
Sheikh Mohamed said Barwa Bank’s strategy envisaged growing its customer base and becoming a leading Shariah-compliant financial group in the world.
In line with this, the bank acquired First Finance and First Leasing companies following its 2009 acquisition of The First Investor Company. These will all be consolidated under the Barwa Bank Group, he said.
“Barwa Bank started its operations during the difficult period that followed the global economic crisis, which caused major banks and financial institutions around the world to collapse. But by God’s grace, Barwa Bank managed to avoid the consequences of the crisis. The bank entered a highly competitive financial market in Qatar and managed in a short time to establish itself among the major institutions, thanks to its clear strategic vision and the commitment of the executive management to the values of innovation and quality in execution,” Sheikh Mohamed said.
Barwa Bank said it already started procedures to list on the Qatar Exchange, which are expected to be completed this year.
Last year, the bank launched a set of new Shariah-compliant products and services and expanded the existing offerings. E-banking services were further developed through SMS and Internet banking, call centre and ATM network.
The bank also launched some key retail and corporate finance products. Among these were the home finance, car finance and personal finance offers.
Barwa Bank established a ‘business banking unit’ last year to cater to the SME sector through a comprehensive range of Shariah-compliant products and services, which are aimed at supporting SMEs in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030.
With an authorised capital of QR2.5bn, Barwa Bank provides a full range of Shariah- compliant banking services including retail, corporate and commercial banking, business banking private banking, real estate finance, structured finance, investments and asset management.