Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) plans to open branches in Lebanon and Turkey to tap into growing volumes of trade between Iraq and those two countries.

State-owned TBI, which has a virtual monopoly on letters of credit (L/Cs) in Iraq, is also planning to expand its domestic presence.

Regional ambitions

The bank's president and chairwoman, Hamdiyah al-Jaff, told Reuters that TBI is awaiting approval from the Lebanese authorities and plans to apply soon for a licence in Turkey.

She also told the news agency that TBI intends to add three more domestic branches to the 16 it already has in Iraq.

Diversification

The bank's core business is trade finance and, for some years after it was established in 2003, it essentially existed to handle L/C transactions for government purchases.

TBI is now active in project finance and provides several banking services for the industrial and agricultural sectors.

The bank is involved, for example, in an US$18 billion project to build an oil pipeline between Basra in Iraq and Aqaba in Jordan.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.