State Bank of India (Canada) has decided to expand its product portfolio to reach out to one
million Indo-Candians in the country.
"The focus right now is to enhance products and services, and more customer amenities at seven SBI (Canada) branches in Canada," the president and chief executive officer of SBI's
Canadian outfit, Sunil K Tandon, said.
Tandon, who succeeds Arun Nagarajan, said that the bank provides remittance of funds on close to real time basis through a network of over 12,300 offices of SBI.
Referring to commercial banking, he said, there was a 50 per cent growth in business loans, credit and finance from USD 226 to USD 332 million in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010.
The bank, he added, has been playing its role in fostering trade ties between India and Canada by extending financial, advisory and logistic support to corporates based particularly in Canada and India.
Senior SBI officials had visited Canada earlier in the month to explore ways and means to attract Canadian investment in India, he said, adding the chairman wants that the international business should account for 25 per cent of total
business, from 20 per cent currently.
Meanwhile, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board said on Wednesday that it would continue investing in emerging markets, such as India, China and Brazil.
"We see that as an important area of focus for our funds," the board's chief executive officer David Denison said. "They're important markets for us to be involved with, learning, putting some capital to work".