As the new CEO of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), Alex Thursby is seeking to develop the bank’s focus by the fast-emerging East West economic corridor. Thursby comes to the bank with expertise in Asia-Pacific banking. In order to do this, he will be working closely on eight banking centers within the economic bloc throughout the east and west. As well he plans to set up five international bank franchises in the fastest-economic-growing countries. He will be developing a strategic change at the bank to actualize this.
In order to make the most of opportunities in the East-West corridor, Thursby said that he wants Abu Dhabi’s National Bank to “remain and develop further to be the best bank in the UAE.” He also believes that over the next two decades, the East West economic corridor “will see the greatest emergence of the middle class. By 2025, all but two of the new mega-cities of the world will come from this corridor.” In addition, Thursby believes that the “sheer size” of Indonesia, Malaysia and Egypt will lead them to be “the future growth engines of the world.” In addition, given Abu Dhabi’s geographic location in the center of the east west economic corridor, it will be in a better position to achieve this.
As well as boasting a top geographic location, Abu Dhabi is very stable. This renders it more attractive for Asian investors looking to find a region in the UAE in which to invest. Indeed, the UAE has become increasingly popular over the last year-and-a-half as investors move potential business from the tumultuous Middle East over there. In 2012 the economy advanced to 4.4 percent. Further, Abu Dhabi has put billions of dollars into various industries in an effort to bring about jobs and reduce reliance on oil. Indeed, in 2012 Abu Dhabi’s non-oil industries increased 7.7 percent.