BDO Unibank has become the first bank in the Philippines to set up shop in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the financial and business gateway between the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The United Arab Emirates is home to an estimated 700,000 Filipino expatriates, and BDO Unibank aims to provide them banking services while facilitating investments and money flow to the Philippines.
Arif Amiri, deputy chief executive officer of the DIFC Authority, said the financial center is pleased to welcome BDO Unibank, which he called a leader in the financial services field from the Philippines.
“This is a direct outcome of our overall strategy to facilitate integration between the Asian and Middle Eastern companies,” Amiri said. “We remain conscious of the diverse demographic constituents of the UAE and are committed to catering to the evolving requirements of each population segment.”
The largest bank in the Philippines, BDO Unibank provides a variety of corporate, commercial and retail banking services. Those include traditional loan and deposit products as well as treasury, trust banking, investments, private banking, cash management, leasing and finance, remittance, insurance, retail cash cards and credit card services.
BDO Unibank CEO Nestor Tan said the establishment of a representative office in Dubai was driven by the bank’s goal to widen overseas networks and support Filipino workers in other countries.
“This expansion into Dubai will boost our capability to service the needs of our countrymen in the entire Middle East and, hopefully, make the bank a catalyst for the progress of financial inclusion of the expatriates in the Philippines,” Tan said.
