EIG eyes Pakistan banking expansion

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LOOKING ABROAD: Sharjah-based Emirates Investment Group looking to expand in Pakistan and New York. (Getty Images)

Emirates Investment Group is looking to expand its banking activities in Pakistan and is seeking land in New York to build a Versace hotel, a company executive said on Tuesday.

The Sharjah-based investment firm, which partly owns Emirates Global Islamic Bank in Pakistan, wants to more than double the 42 branches in the country, Vice Chairman Raza Jafa told Reuters.

"We are planning to have 100 branches by 2010 and the focus is to expand into rural areas of Pakistan in order to help people there finance their agriculture projects," said Jafa.

Pakistan has a population of 170 million people, the majority of whom are Muslim and will be seeking Islamic banking services, Jafa said.

Since the start of the global economic crisis, many Gulf investors have been seeking to take advantage of the fall in Western asset values.

EIG, which owns a 25 percent stake in Enshaa, a private sector real estate company in the UAE, is also looking at opening a new branch of the Palazzo Versace hotel in New York.

"This week we are going New York to take a look at some areas where we could possibly build our third Versace hotel," said Jafar.

The company co-owns the Versace hotel in Australia's Gold Coast and a 213-room hotel in Dubai, which will be completed by 2010, said Jafar.

"It's a good time to expand right now and we are also looking at other international destinations to expand the brand," he said.

US hotel occupancy rates have been hit hard by the global economic crisis. Occupancy rates in March fell by 11.6 percent to reach an average of 55.2 percent in the month, according to research firm STR Global.

In New York the average daily rate dropped by 24 percent in March to $193.19.

Enshaa is an equal joint venture between the UAE's Majid Al Futtaim Group, Abraaj Capital and EIG.

"These three companies own around 25 percent share, while the rest is owned by individual investors," said Jafa. (Reuters)

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