AMMAN — Arab Bank is currently recruiting employees and preparing to resume operations in Iraq.  

AMMAN — Arab Bank is currently recruiting employees and preparing to resume operations in Iraq.
The bank ran five branches in Iraq and six in Syria from 1947 until 1964 when the banking sectors in the two countries were nationalised.

As part of its expansion plan, a branch in the Iraqi capital will be reopened before the end of this year, an Arab Bank official said Wednesday.

The license for reestablishing a branch in Baghdad was obtained a year ago from the Central Bank of Iraq, he remarked.

Arab Bank seeks to link the Jordanian and Iraqi economies, advance commercial and trade activities between the two countries and facilitate banking transactions, the official told The Jordan Times.

The Arab Bank will also relaunch its Damascus branch as of July this year, becoming the third private sector bank to operate in Syria, the source said, adding that a plan to establish a minimum of 12 branches across Syria will be executed over a four-year period.

The bank would utilise its previous experiences in the Iraqi and Syrian markets in running its future operations there, the source said.

Established in Palestine in 1930, the Arab Bank currently operates 400 branches in 30 countries and major financial centres worldwide.

In 2004, the Arab Bank Group registered a net income of $319 million.

In the Kingdom, where the bank runs 83 branches, new premises are being built on the Airport Road to be the headquarters of IT services and electronic transactions of the Arab Bank network, the source said, pointing out that some 400-500 employees would man the new building which will be completed in July.