Indonesia's state-owned lender Bank Negara Indonesia (BNI) will open branch offices in west Saudi Arabia's Jidda, Mecca and Medina cites in a bid to facilitate transactions for pilgrims and migrant workers, the state news agency reported Monday.
"We have conducted studies on the opening of branch offices in Saudi Arabia. Hopefully, they will soon be operational," BNI President Director Gatot Suwondo said Monday, quoted by Antara.
BNI, Indonesia's fourth-largest bank by assets, has established partnerships with a number of Saudi Arabia's local banks, including the country's National Commercial Bank and the Arab National Bank.
Gatot said that the opening of the new branch offices was a follow up of a memorandum of understanding signed between the governments of Indonesia and Saudi Arabia on April 11, 2012.
Firman Wibowo, BNI senior vice president, said the opening of the new branches would facilitate financial transactions for Indonesian migrant workers and Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
Firman said the flow of money between the two countries reaches 500 million to 600 million U.S. dollars every year, involving the transactions on remittance, hotel accommodation, food, souvenirs and trade deals.
Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has 1.3 million migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and sends 300,000 annual Hajj pilgrims, 750,000 minor Hajj pilgrims to the holy pilgrimage destination every year.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire