A Glimpse

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prdesk@dohabank.com.qauravishankar@dohabank.com.qawww.dohabank.com.qa

Tel: Usha Ravishankar: 4257281 Mohammed Salem: 4456533

For any query, feed back or suggestions please do not hesitate to call us or write to us:

VISION

NEWS

LAUNCH

TIE-UP

EVENT

In This Issue

MD’s Message ........................................................................2

From The Desk Of Chief Executive Officer ......................3

Financial One Stop At City Centre.......................................4

Al Dana Fun Run – Overwhelming Response.....................6

Doha Bank Bags Prestigious Awards ..................................7

Dreams Unlimited...with Doha Bank....................................8

Dream Card Holders – Flying High......................................8

Launch of New Home and Personal Loan...........................9

Doha Bank Acheives Impressive

Performance Ratios...............................................................10

Standard & Poor’s Upgrades Doha Bank’s Rating...........12

East West Economic Synergy Is Realistic

Opportunity ..........................................................................13

Seminar In Tokyo Showcasing GCC Developments ... 14

Bizquiz In UAE.......................................................................15

Changing faces of financial services in Kuwait.................16

CEO At Colombia Business School in New York..........16

Innovations – A Key Factor In Islamic Finance Towards

The Growth Of The Market...............................................17

Strategic Tie-ups...................................................................18

Doha Bank ventures into brokerage

and wealth management.......................................................19

Global Warming Seminars..................................................20

Mabrouk................................................................................21

GROWTH

MABROUK

GOING PLACES

SOCIAL RES

December 2007

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MD,s MESSAGE

VISIONDecember 2007

On occasion of the financial year 2007 end, I would like to congratulate Members of the Board of Directors, mainly HE Sheikh / Fahad bin Mohamttmed bin Jabor Al Thani t Chairman of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer, the Executive Management team and all staff with the new year and the valuttable results and accomplishments that have been achieved during the year 2007.

The year 2007 was distinct and full of success, where we were able,

thanks to your efforts and inputs, to strengthen the financial position of the bank and to develop and launch many advanced banking services and prodttucts. In addition to the previous awards and accolades we have bagged the “Best Commercial Bank in the Middle East 2007” awards from the Banker Middle East Magazine and the “Best bank in Qatar for 2007” award from World Finance Magazine in addition to the “Best Islamic Funding for Comttpanies in the Middle East” from Islamic Financing Magazine, thanks to your hard work and the efforts of the executive management, the encouragement of innovation and the teamwork spirit.

In the same year our branch in Dubai was opened and the approval of competent authorities for opening representative offices in both London and Hong Kong were obtained. Also we have obtained the final approval from the Kuwaiti cabinet to open our branch in Kuwait to provide all banking busittness and we are on the eve of celebrating the inauguration of Doha Bank Insurance Company in Qatar Financial Center.

I would also like to refer that 2007 had seen Mr. Setharaman being prott

moted to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Bank and in recognition of his efforts and accomplishments in the banking sector Mr. Setharaman was awarded «Banker of the year» award by the Banker Middle East Magazine in May 2007.

The progress that has been accomplished does not stop at this junction, but we look forward to further successes and accomplishments and this is not going to be realized without coordinated efforts and working together in a teamwork spirit.

Finally, I reiterate my thanks and appreciation to the members of the Board of Directors, the Executive Management and all staff for their efforts and achievements. Once again, the Board of Directors and I would like to emttphasize the importance of cooperation, teamwork spirit, perseverance and continued innovation so that we can achieve more, and to this end we extend our fullest support and cooperation.

Abdul Rahman bin Mohammed bin Jabor Al Thani

Managing Director

VISION

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FROM THE DESKOF CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Mr. R. SeetharamanCEO

Greetings! I wish you all a very happy, healthy and prosperous new year.

It has been an exemplary and exceptionally eventful last quarter. We contttinued our awardtwinning streak as Doha Islamic, our Islamic banking window bagged the award for the “Best Islamic Corporate Finance” in the Middle East for 2007, conferred by Islamic Business and Finance, CPI publications. World Finance, the prestigious financial sector magazine from London, adttjudged Doha Bank as The Best Bank in Qatar t 2007”. These awards are the result of the continuous patronage of our esteemed and evertexpanding custttomers, the support and vision of the Board and the commitment of our staff. Having achieved the accolades, it is important that we sustain it.

Standard & Poor’s rating services assigned “At/At2” credit rating to Doha Bank, acknowledging strong financial performance and improved asset qualttity as reason for the high rating.

As a part of expansion and diversification, Doha Bank is spreading its wings now. We have acquired stake in Indian Brokerage Company, which is now named as DBFS – Doha Brokerage and Financial Services. It is the first investment by Qatari Bank in Indian Financial Services Industry. Our fully owned subsidiary Doha Bank Assurance Company is set for the January Launch.

We opened our new branch at City Centre, which is a showcase model branch, one of its kind in Qatar. The branch will specialize in real estate servttices, in addition to showcasing all the products & services for various target segments right from personal, business & corporate requirements. We have enhanced our portfolio of services by enhancing our collaborations with varittous financial institutes such as Bank of Beirut, Hatton National bank, Kotak, UTI Mutual Fund, IL&FS etc.

We have always demonstrated our social and corporate responsibility by organizing events for spreading awareness for socially relevant issues and supporting social causes. The Global Warming Climate Change seminars held in 2007 in Singapore, Tokyo, Chennai, Mumbai, Washington and Cochin were extremely successful and fruitful. The Al Dana Fun Run coinciding with the New Traffic rules had an overwhelming response. The Green Quiz in Doha and the Biz Quiz in Abu Dhabi and Dubai had very strong participatttion. These events help us to establish, maintain and develop a strong bondttage with our customers.

The board and management are very sensitive and committed towards staff welfare. Our recent initiative towards providing housing at reasonable cost is an example. I would like to assure that staff welfare will always get its due attention in the organization.

It has been an extremely successful 2007, thanks to your dedicated efforts. I look forward to your continued commitment to the challenges ahead to scale new performance levels in the future.

With Warm Regards

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NEWSDecember 2007

The new City Centre branch of Doha Bank was inaugurated on 27th November 2007 by H.E Sheikh Abdullah Bin Suoud Bin Abdul Aziz Al Thani, Goveeernor of Qatar Central Bank, in the presence of H.E Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohd Bin Jabor Al Thani, Mr. Ahmed Obaidan, H.E Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, Vice Chaireeman and Managing Director of Doha Bank respectively. Mr. R. Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank and Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani, Chairman of Al Faisal Holdings were also present.

FINANCIAL ONE STOP AT CITY CENTRE

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NEWS

Various customers of the bank, top executives of leading real estate developers in the country and the Exttecutive Management team of Doha Bank also attended the inauguration. The branch is another addition to the wide network of Doha Bank branchttes. The City Centre Branch is considttered as a flagship model branch for Doha Bank, which will showcase all the products & render services with respect to various target segments right from personal, business & corttporate requirements.

To the delight and convenience of the customers, the working hours will be from 9am to 9pm. Customers can now experience the unique concept of all their Financial Solutions under one roof. The other highlights of this branch include the state of the art branch, which provides the experittence of banking with a shopping spree, a unique Real Estate lounge

with dedicated and expert advisors in the various aspects of Banking.

It is considered as the first of its kind based on the new and different experience that it will be offering to the customers. It is considered a fulltfledged Financial Outlet offering all kinds of products and services with dedicated Sales Desks that allows customers to choose their preferences in a quick and easy manner.

With the opening of the City Centttre Branch the domestic network of Doha Bank consists of 30 branches, 10 Electronic branches and 5 Pay Ofttfices in addition to the 3 Mobile Banktting Unit with a wide ATM network exttceeding 100 in the State of Qatar. In addition, Doha Bank has two overttseas branches in New York (USA) & Dubai (UAE), 4 Representative offices covering Singapore, Tokyo, Shanghai (China) and Istanbul (Turkey).

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NEWS

Mr. R.Seetharaman, CEO Doha Bank said, “This year the Run cointtcided with the new Traffic Rules and it comes under Doha Bank’s committtment to organize sports and social programmes within the recognition policy followed by the Bank and its effective role in supporting the community. This run aims at supttporting the Traffic Dept Campaign of decreasing the road accidents”. Mr.R.Seetharaman expressed his apttpreciation to the staff of the Traffic & Patrols Dept at the Ministry of Interior, the Qatar Olympic Committee and Astt

pire Zone who supported this event. There were five categories in the

race consisting of Male over and under 16, Female over and under 16 years old and one category for people with special needs. All particittpants expressed their happiness and appreciated the effective organizatttion. They looked forward to more such events. The Fun Run concluded with several draws for Doha Bank customers. Three Young Savers won QR 5,000 each, while ten customtters using the SMS service won QR 1, 000 each. After the Run, the 3rd

Bumper draw was done for a total of QR 600,000. Six lucky customers won QR 100,000 each.

The Doha Bank and Traffic Dept. officials distributed prizes in the presttence of the Asian Fashion Models. The AltDana Savings Scheme proves once again to be the leading savttings scheme in Qatar with its annual Fun Run happening for the third year in a row and prizes of more than 6,500,000 in cash distributed during 2007 only. Expect the big announcettment for another Millionaire winner very soon.

AL DANA FUN RUN – OVERWHELMING RESPONSEThe annual Fun Run organized by Doha Bank on Thursday

Nov 15, 2007 had an overwhelming response. The number of participants exceeded all the previous expectations and included professionals, children, women and sports enthusiast and members of various socioecultural groups. This annual event also supports the national campaign for Road Accidents’ Prevention. Doha Bank has organized this event for the third consecutive year. The distance covered was three kilometers starting at 4 PM from the Aspire Zone next to Khalifa Stadium.

December 2007

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Doha Bank has also been adttjudged the “Best Bank in Qatar t 2007” by World Finance, the prestigttious financial sector magazine from London.

These results were the outcome of comprehensive assessment of various financial institutes in the region based on parameters such as strategy, perttformance, growth rate, innovation in products and services, consumer convenience, technology deployment etc.

H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman, Doha Bank expressed immense satisfaction on the announcements. He dedicated the awards to continuous patronage of loyal customer base, and attributed the forward looking vision of board, high level of commitment of managettment and staff, customer care and best suite of products and services as the main reasons which tilted the scales in favor of Doha Bank. He said that the awards reflect the recogttnition of Doha Bank as a growing glottbal brand, which has been achieved through consistently best performance ratios, continuous product and servttice innovation, and various strategic initiatives for growth.

H.E. Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin

Mohammad Bin Jabor Al Thani, Managing Director, Doha Bank said, “The awards reflects the trust and confidence of banking community on Doha Bank. It validates our efforts towards creating a strong institution with best international practices and standards. We have been growing steadily on all domains. Within a short span of time, we have created a strong image in Islamic finance sector, which is extremely strategic to us. We are committed to sustain our growth on conventional as well as Islamic segment and maintain our hall mark. We are committtted to sustain the growth level through continuous innovatttion. Looking forward, we plan to have more branches, create strong awareness of Doha Islamic products and services through marketing campaigns, further innovate in product development and augment our financial and management advisory servttices on Islamic financing to corporate and retail customtters.” said

Mr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer, said that Doha Bank is achieving exemplary growth through forward looking initiatives for expansion through increased

international presence, acquisitions, collaboration and creation of subsidittary and strategic business units.

Mr. R. Seetharaman said while speaking about Doha Islamic, “The Islamic finance award reflects the growing presence of Doha Bank in Islamic financing sector. Doha Islamic has made immense strides in less than two years of launch and has crossed QR 2 Billions of assets. With a comttprehensive set of products and servicttes, we cater to all financing needs of different stages of lifecycle – for retail

as well as corporate customtters. We are the first Islamic window in Qatar to structure a Sukuk. We are again first in Qatar to introduce Islamic credit cards. Within a short span, Doha Islamic has exttpanded its network of servttices to 4 branches in state of Qatar. “

Doha Bank has been consistently bagging various awards and accolades since 2003 from various financial sector specialists. It has been recently adjudged as ‘Best Commercial Bank’ in the Midttdle East for the year 2007 by the ‘The Banker Middle East’ Magazine.

NEWS

DOHA BANK BAGS PRESTIGIOUS

AWARDS

Doha Islamic, the Islamic banking window of Doha Bank has bagged the award for the “Best Islamic Corporate Finance” in the Middle East for 2007 in the Islamic Business and Finance, CPI publications Middle East awarde2007. This was announced on December 12th, 2007 in a glittering ceremony that took place in Emirates Towers Hotel in Dubai.

hall mark. We are committtted to sustain the growth level

plan to have more branches, create strong awareness of plan to have more branches, create strong awareness of plan to have more branches,

services through marketing campaigns, further innovate services through marketing campaigns, further innovate services through marketing

Chief Executive Officer, said that Doha Bank is achieving exemplary growth through that Doha Bank is achieving exemplary growth through that Doha Bank is achieving

forward looking initiatives for exemplary growth through forward looking initiatives for exemplary growth through

Doha Bank has also been ad

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LAUNCHDecember 2007

Doha Bank’s Dream Credit Card brings exclusive and attractive offers to its existing and

new customers during the festival season and to welcome the New Year in a special way. The duration of these promotions is from 6th December 2007 to 6th March 2008.

The first promotion is ‘Spend & Win’, which can be availed by all the customers having the Dream Credit Card. The customers will get a chance to enter the draw every time they use their Card for purchase or cash withdrawal. Every month 5 winners will have a chance to win their spent money back, which will be credited in their card account. The draw dates for this promotion are 10th January, 12th February, and 11th March 2008. In addition, Dream Credit Card customers can accumulate and redeem their dream point with various merchant outlets.

The second promotion is exclusively for the New Customers of Dream Credit Card. Customers will have to apply for a Dream Visa Credit Card in any of the Doha Bank branch and when they collect their Card, they will receive a scratch card, which will entitle them to a free welcome gift mentioned on it. The gifts can be claimed from Jumbo Electronics or the Giant Stores.

Doha Bank announced a joint promotion with SriLankan Airlines for its Dream Card holders. This is an online booking facility to the bank’s customers. The initiative is aimed at simplifying tickettpurchasing procedures for the Dream Card customers. In addition to saving cost and time, this new booking method will benefit the customers in many ways. In addition to saving cost and time, this new booking method will benefit the customers in many ways.

The Dream Card users can book their flights via SriLankan Airlines to join this promotion, which will give them a 7% discount. The payment has to be made by their credit cards. Every month four customers can win a ticket to the original destination they booked for. Every transaction will entitle the customers to one entry to the draw. The first draw will be on 2nd January 2008. Customers will also continue to earn Dream Points. Customers booking their tickets online will be connected to the SriLankan Airlines’ reservation system, allowing them to search preferred dates, times, available flights, check seat availability, reserve a seat, print an etticket and even indicate meal preferences.

DREAM CARDHOLDERS – FLYING HIGH

DREAMS UNLIMITED...WITH DOHA BANK

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Doha Bank launched its new Home Loan and Personal loan campaigns offering the best financing features. ‘These unique offers are available for the first time in Qatar’ said CEO of Doha Bank, Mr. R. Seetharaman. He also added that the bank is eager to satisfy its changing customer’s needs to ensure that they meet their investment requirements at all times and be a part of the growing economy in the country. This is yet another innovation from Doha Bank in it’s strive to bring the best to all residents in Qatar. Attractive financing options are also available for all expatriates living in Qatar.

The ‘Housing Campaign’, offers housing loans to buy in the freehold projects under development at the lowest interest rate of 7% p.a. Moreover, five customers will win

back the full amount of their down payment up to QR 200,000 per winner. The home loan facility of Doha Bank offers the longest repayment period up to 30 years at very competitive interest rates and is available for Qataris and expatriates. The interest rate is fixed at 7% during the construction period and the highlight is that five lucky winners can win back their down payment. Loan could be taken up to 90% of the property value.

This ‘Housing Campaign’, is intended to cope with the recent economic developments in the country and the focus on the new attractive real estate projects where customers could invest in their future welfare and security of their families and enjoy the changing face of the country with the completion of these projects.

LAUNCH OF NEW HOME AND PERSONAL LOAN

Doha bank provides comprehensive range of banking services for different customer segments, unmatched in Qatar. In Retail Banking segment, it has innovative loan product portfolio for all conceivable personal needs of individuals requiring financing support. Doha bank has been applauded by various highly respected financial sector specialists for its pioneering and leadership role in taking Banking experience in Qatar to new heights.

LAUNCH

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GROWTHDecember 2007

As regards the total assets of the bank, the Chairman announced that it has registered an impressive growth rate of 56.3%, showing an increase of QR 10.3 billion, from QR 18.3 bilttlion to QR 28.6 billion. Further, the deposits have grown by 41.5% to QR 18.45 billion from QR 13.04 billion for the same period last year. Net loans & Advances increased to QR 18.04 billion from QR 10.8 billion

for the same period last year, registttering a growth of 66.6%.

H.E. Sheikh Fahad further added that the shareholders’ funds, at the end of September 2007, stands at QR 3.35 billion, showing an increase of more than 24% during the last twelve months. The shareholders’ funds at the end of September last year was QR 2.7 billion. The strong shareholdtt

er’s funds as well as the increasing profitability levels, have resulted in a return on average equity at 29.56% and Return on Average Assets of 3.59%.

During the third quarter, the Bank has also successfully signed an inttternational syndicated loan of US$ 350 million to fund its growth stratttegies. This offer was oversubscribed

DOHA BANK ACHEIVES IMPRESSIVEPERFORMANCE RATIOS

His Excellency Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor AleThani, Chairman of Board of Directors of Doha Bank, announced Doha Bank’s financial results for the nine months of the year, ending September 2007. Net profit for the period has jumped up to QR 677.5 million, compared to QR 607.5 million for the same period in 2006. Earnings per share has increased to QR 5.43 as compared to QR 4.87 in the corresponding period of previous year. Net interest income rose by 25.68% to QR 481.8 million. Commission income rose by 27.08% to QR 232 million while Exchange income rose by 114.8% to QR 57.5 million. The net operating income during the same period has gone up from QR 776.6 million to QR 1,051.3 million reflecting an increase of 35.37%.

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by more than 46%, reflecting the confidence reposed in the institution, by the international market.

Explaining about the new services and products introduced, Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohammad Bin Jabor Al Thani, Managtting Director of the Bank added “We have opened our full fledged branch in Dubai, and a representative office in Shanghai, China. In line with our established track record of being the leader in introducing innovative products and services, the Bank has recently signed up with Bank of Beirut, Birla Sun Life, SundaramtBNP Paribas Asset management, and Barwa International, to bring in the best suite of prodttucts to our customers. Launch of Doha Souq will lead us towards futuristic etcommerce in Qatar. While maintaining our impressive results, we are proactively exercising our Corporate Social Responsibility in important subjects such as promoting awareness on the Global Warming, corporate governance ”.

Mr. R. Seetharaman, the Chief Executive of the bank said, “Doha Bank is the first Bank from GCC region to open up an office in China, and, also the first bank from Qatar to have a branch in Dubai. With the continuing global expansion initiatives, the bank now has presence in Dubai, New York, Singapore, Tottkyo, Turkey and China t the most active tradtting partners of Qatar. This makes us highly geared to offer the best suite of products and services both to the Corporate and Retail segttments. The bank has always been a forerunttner in maintaining all the performance ratios, well above the market level, and this would not have been possible, but for the vision of the Board and the dedication of the staff. ”

GROWTH

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December 2007

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Justifying the high ratings achieved by Doha Bank, the rating agency further observed that “These ratings reflect Doha Bank’s very strong fittnancial performance, improved asset quality enhanced by superior portfottlio granularity compared with peers’ and robust liquidity”.

Standard & Poor’s further noted that since 2002, the bank has been radically turned around by a new generation of experienced managtters, themselves empowered by a committed board of directors. They have further observed that ‘ the key components of the bank’s successttful and balanced organic growth strategy have been, enhanced risk management, an ambitious portfolio cleanup and balance sheet scaling up focused on retail and privatetsectttor corporate borrowers’. Doha Bank displays a very strong financial prottfile and its profitability has been very high and stable over the past five

years, the report further observed. The bank’s early building of a more robust risk management architecture has resulted in less provision charges and NPL ratios in line with the regionttal average. Commenting on the retail banking, the report noted that ‘ given its strong relative entrenchment in the retail banking market, the bank has also access to cheaper, more stable, and more granular household deposttits for funding’.

Doha Bank is the third largest bank in Qatar, with an asset base of more than QR 28.6 billion ( US $ 7.9 billion) and is the only Qatartbased bank to have fulltfledged branch optterations in USA and UAE. The Bank has been continuously maintaining high performance ratios, yielding the highest return on the shareholders’ funds in the market.

STANDARD & POOR’S UPGRADESDOHA BANK’S RATING

Standard & Poor’s Rating Services have assigned it’s “Ae/Ae2 “ long and shorteterm counterparty credit ratings to Doha Bank. It quoted it’s outlook as ‘stable’. In a recent statement released by the acclaimed rating agency, it observed that ‘the stable outlook mainly reflects Standard & Poor’s expectation that Doha Bank will continue to strengthen its market position and retain its solid financial profile’.

GROWTH

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GOING PLACES

Anchoring the sessions, Mr. R.Seetharaman, CEO Doha Bank anattlysed how the global economic order keeps getting redefined, influenced by various factors such as credit crisis sparked by US sub prime mortgages, Volatility of US dollar and its impact on dollar pegged currencies, hiccups in conclusion of WTO negotiations between developed countries and emerging economies, growing conttcern on sustainable development due to Global warming and related envittronment issues etc.

Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Nassir AltNasser, Ambassador and Permanent representative of Qatar to United Nations lauded the strong ties between America and Qatar.

Speaking on the occasion, H.E. Sheikh Abdulla Bin So’oud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar central bank elabtt

orated on strong ties between United States of America and Qatar said, “We share a very warm relationship fostered by trust and strong collabottration in many areas such as educatttion, environment, healthcare, enttergy, infrastructure development etc. Today we have many worlds’ class universities from united states, having strong presence in Qatar. Many large American corporations are playing important roles in developing the oil and gas sector. It is estimated that US investment in Qatar is around USD 70 Billions. Joint Ventures have been setup between Qatar and USA comttpanies to establish refineries and gas terminals in USA. This will ensure that Qatar’s energy resources reach USA in large quantity, in coming years.”

Mr. Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes lauded the ties between GCC and

United states of America and said that in ever changing global economic order, mutual cooperation and colttlaboration are necessary for gaining synergistic advantages, as the countttries benefit a great deal from each other’s strength. He was confident that the ties will continue to scale new heights between GCC and America. He congratulated Doha Bank for orttganizing the event and appreciated Mr.R.Seetharaman for his professionttal management skill and knowledge base.

H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohamttmed Bin Jabor AltThani, Chairman of Board of Directors, Doha Bank, Sheikh Abdul Rehman Bin Mohamttmed Bin Jabor AltThani, Managing Director, Doha Bank, and Sheikh Abdulla Mohamed Jabor AltThani, Board Member, Doha Bank also attttended the event.

EAST WEST ECONOMIC SYNERGYIS REALISTIC OPPORTUNITY

H.E. Sheikh Abdulla Bin So’oud Al Thani, Governor of Qatar central bank, and H.E. Nassir AleNasser, Ambassador and Permanent representative of Qatar to United Nations were the special speaker on the occasion. Mr. Steve Forbes, CEO of Forbes Inc. graced the occasion as the guest of honour.

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December 2007

Doha bank conducted a seminar in Japan in the city of Tokyo in Septttember 2007. The main topics of the seminar were “GCC Economic Trends and Business Opportunities” and “Islamic Finance prospects.” The seminars were a part of Doha bank initiative to provide an insight of dettvelopments in the region in banking and economic sector to Japanese entttrepreneurs and corporate houses, Jatt

pan being the largest trading partner of Qatar.

Mr. Yukio Kitazume, Japanese ambassador to Qatar graced the octtcasion in Tokyo and addressed the gathering. He appreciated the initiatttive of Doha Bank in organizing the seminar, which provides good insight on developments in GCC region in economic as well as banking sector.

The Chief Representative of Doha

Bank in Japan Mr. Uichiro Kinoshita

welcomed the gathering and aptt

prised them about Doha Bank, its

growth as well as its proactive initiatt

tives in supporting social causes. Mr.

Waki, Deputy Chief Editorial writer

of Nikkei, while speaking on the octt

casion lauded the progress made by

GCC countries.

SEMINARIN TOKYO SHOWCASING

GCC DEVELOPMENTS

GOING PLACES

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Doha Bank’s BizQuiz aimed at knowledge sharing and strengthentting industrytwide professional relatttionships, is the first of its kind to be launched in the UAE. Members of Dubai’s and Abu Dhabi’s corporate world and quiz enthusiasts dubbed it an ‘intellectually energizing and chalttlenging event’ and called for it to be held more frequently.

The quiz is part of Doha Bank’s ongoing initiative aimed at bringing together the financial brains in the Middle East to establish, maintain and develop a strong professional relationship. The Abu Dhabi BizQuiz on December 4 at the Hilton Hotel

was followed by the event in Dubai the next day at the ShangritLa Hotel.

Both events attracted 255 teams of two members each who competed in the preliminary rounds consisting of a questionnaire drawn up by Doha Bank staff, which covered a broad range of subjects from financial, envittronmental to general knowledge. Five top scoring teams moved on to the fittnal level which consisted of six rounds – ‘on your march’, audio round, visuttal round, ‘green’ round, video round, and the ‘rapid fire’ round.

The five teams named – bonds, asset management, insurance, brottkerage and commodities – rose to

the challenge admirably and in good humour. Mr Seetharaman, who took to the floor as the quizmaster, kept the momentum going by throwing questttions at the audience at the start of the quiz and intbetween the rounds. Not only did it energise the audience but gave them the opportunity to win spot cash prizes for every right answer.

In Dubai the Content Syndicate team – Maddy Reddy and Anshuman Kishore took an early lead and were the clear favourites to win and they did so by a wide margin. Rohit and Jishnu of the Ecolab Gulf FZE Comttpany team emerged victorious in Abu Dhabi.

Runnerstup were Adventity’s team consisting of R. M. Sriram and Kumar Subramanian in Dubai and Standard Chartered Bank represented by Anttmol and Ravi in Abu Dhabi.

Among the five teams who made it to the final round in Dubai were KPMG’s Krishna Prasanna and Solittman Matbouly, BPG’s Bioin Jacob and Prasanna Hegde, and Bankers’ Rajesh Malghani and C. K. Jaidev. In Abu Dhabi, they were Nagarajan and Manjula Srikumar from ADCB, Suresh and Shaji from ADIA and Nexus represented by Nejimon and Rajesh.

BIZQUIZ IN UAE

UAE’s corporate world and quiz wizards responded enthusiastically to Doha Bank’s oneeofeaekind biz quiz in December, with the teams from The Content Syndicate (Dubai) and The Ecolab Gulf FZE Company (Abu Dhabi) emerging victorious.

GOING PLACES

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December 2007 GOING PLACES

DOHA BANK EVENT ON THE CHANGING FACES OF

FINANCIAL SERVICESDOHA BANK HELD AN EVENT ON THE “CHANGING FACES OF

FINANCIAL SERVICES IN KUWAIT. SEVERAL DIGNITARIES, FINANCIAL EXPERTS ATTENDED THE EVENT. ADDRESSING THE GATHERING AND PRESIDING OVER THE EVENING CEO OF DOHA BANK MR. R. SEETHARAMAN HIGHLIGHTED THE CONSTANT CHANGE IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY WHICH IS REDEFINING THE SCOPE OF FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE RELATED CHALLENGES FACED BY THE CORPORATE WORLD. HE POINTED OUT THE IMPACT IN VARIOUS ECONOMIC SECTORS DUE TO THE WEAKENING OF THE US $. HE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THAT THE CUSTOMERS THESE DAYS ARE NOT

Mr. R Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of the Doha Bank addressed the Columbia Business School on changing paradigm in financial services.

Analysing the role of business managers in current environment, Mr. R. Seetharaman said, “The role of bankers must evolve to next higher level from customer perspective. He must be perceived as a financial advisor and consultant, rather than a product banker. Business managers must aim for a clear differentiating strategy, continuous product innovation, customertcentric technology integration with the business and effective development of knowledgetbased workforce. Today we live in a global village and our products and services must have a global appeal”. Sharing the success story of Doha Bank he explained how the bank has transformed with product differentiation, collaboration and aggregation towards convergence as a one stop financial service provider.

Replying to a question on Qatar

acquiring 20% stake in London Stock Exchange, Mr. Seetharaman said Qatar investment authority always looks for investment opportunity globally on sound institutions, and, these investments are in line with that.

On the reasons what the foreign banks find surprising about the regional banks, Mr. Seetharaman said, “Foreign banks find that GCC economies are in highly liberlaised environment. They are appreciative of our intensity, competitive environment and state of art banking. They find our rapid response to market needs highly dynamic. They find the totality of our relationship with customers covering all aspects of financing very unique.”

Answering to a query on how he sees banking in next generation ten years from now, Seetharaman said the next generation banks will become a comprehensive aggregator of all personal and commercial services with etservice, ettrade, etinsurance, ebpp, etexchange becoming a norm.

C.E.O. ATCOLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL IN NEW YORK

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EVENT

Mr. R. Seetharaman, CEO – Doha Bank while presenting a speech in the conference highlighted the rapid momentum gained by Islamic finance in the recent times including the measurement concept of Islamic market, namely the Dow Jones Islamic Indexes consisting more than 70 indexes. In respect of innovations in Islamic Finance, Mr. R. Seetharaman demonstrated the flexibility in structuring Islamic deals, like Murabaha, Ijarah, Diminishing Musharaka, Ujr, Musawama financing, Tawarruq and stressed the need for leveraging such financing

towards education, medical treatment etc.

Mr. R. Seetharaman, brought to light the challenges of Islamic finance, namely need for increased business penetration, need for effective business facilitator, need for improvements in trade cycle and processing time, need for standardized interpretations, need for hightend technology deployment, and better liquidity and maturity profile management. Further, Mr. R. Seetharaman said that more innovations in terms of alternate solutions, like use of derivatives, are required to be developed in

compliance with Sharia principles. Emphasizing the services

offered by Doha Islamic, the Islamic banking arm of Doha Bank, which commenced operations in June 2005, Mr. R. Seetharaman drew attention on the innovative and competitive producttlines of Doha Islamic, like Musharaka, Mudaraba, Ijarah, Tawarruq, Istisna and Salam, and added that Doha Islamic was first to launch the Islamic Credit Card.

Mr. R. Seetharaman, at the end of his speech, fielded some interesting questions.

INNOVATIONS – A KEY FACTOR IN ISLAMIC FINANCE TOWARDS

THE GROWTH OF THE MARKET

The 2nd Annual World Islamic Infrastructure Finance Conference 2007, being held at Doha saw some unprecedented lineeup of outstanding speakers from the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia to share new insights into the growth potential of Islamic finance.

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TIE-UPSDecember 2007

Doha Bank signed agreements with leading Banks like Bank of Beirut and Hatton National Bank. Doha Bank also signed agreements with several Mutual Funds in India, which includes Reliance, UTI, Kotak Mahindra and

Sundaram BNP Paribas.

Mr. Seetharaman, CEO, Doha Bank, highlighted the metamorphic growth of Qatar in all dimensions and the consequent influx of expatriates from around the globe to meet the manpower requirements in all fields. He mentioned that Doha Bank is committed to provide the best service and to cater the financial services needs locally as well as in their home country.

Doha Bank has also entered an MOU with Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Limited (IL&FS), one of India’s leading infrastructure development and finance companies, on November 21, 2007. This MOU will lead to providing various project/infrastructure financing and advisory services in the region. This Strategic Alliance will provide services in the areas of Commercialization of infrastructure and infrastructure advisory, Investment banking, Leasing, Corporate advisory, financial structuring, Capital market activities and project finance, Private equity, Syndication etc.

On the occasion of launching their joint package

BayRoot® “your Doha route to Beirut” between Doha Bank and Bank of Beirut, a cocktail reception was held at the Marriott Hotel under the patronage of H.E. Hassan Sa’ad, the Lebanese Ambassador to Doha.

A large audience from leading members of the Lebanese community in Qatar attended the reception, invited by H.E. Sheikh Fahad Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al Thani, Chairman of Doha Bank and Mr. Salim Sfeir, Chairman and General Manager of Bank of Beirut.

The event covered a description of the new package and was attended by H.E. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Bin Mohammed Bin Jabor Al Thani, the Managing Director of Doha Bank in addition to top executives from both banks.

Mr. R. Seetharaman, CEO of Doha Bank welcomed the audience present and expressed that the cooperation between Doha Bank and Bank of Beirut has always been present and is the result of a formerly established partnership. He described the project BayRoot® as a joint package offering mutual financial and business services between Qatar and Lebanon.

Strategic Tie ups

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Six moths down the line, the strategic tietup has entered into an active phase, with almost all necessary regulatory approvals in India and Qatar in place. The company has been renamed to Doha Brokerage & Financial Services Limited (DBFS). Therefore, the group has branded its service network under the name DBFS. Selectgroup Chief Executive Officer Mr. Prince George will be the Managing Director DBFS.

Doha Bank is eyeing this tietup as an entry into the lucrative financial services industry in India, offering host of synergies for the bank. The tietup will enable Doha Bank to offer a wider product range and value added services to its customers, especially to the Indian expatriate community. Through a large clientele of NRI customers, Doha Bank has already strong relationship with India and this tietup will further strengthen it.

DOHA BANK VENTURES INTO BROKERAGEAND WEALTH-MANAGEMENT

Doha Bank has entered Indian Brokerage Industry with a strategic investment in Investnet; an Indian based Brokerage Company. The Bank has taken equity stake in Select Securities Ltd., the holding company for Select group of companies, which owns the brokerage network under the brand name Investnet. Mr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer Doha Bank, formally announced the strategic tieeup at a ceremonious function at Kochi in May 2007.

TIE-UPS

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SOCIAL RESDecember 2007

Doha Bank organized seminars on ‘Global Warming’ in Singapore, Tokyo, Chennai, Mumbai, Washington and Cochin in the last quarter of 2007. These events were attended by Economists, Business leaders, Bankers and dignitaries. Doha Bank has been organizing a series of events on the subject in line with its commitment to support social causes. It is the first bank in the Middle East, to propagate a ‘green culture’. As scientists identify and find ways to resolve this issue it becomes the responsibility of the corporate world to play its part. Doha Bank has been in the forefront never missing an opportunity to spread awareness for socially relevant issues and supporting social causes. Amongst many initiatives towards these objectives, most critical issues facing the earth – Global Warming.

Mr. R. Seetharaman, CEO Doha

Bank, in his address emphasized the Bank’s continued commitment in organizing knowledge sharing sessions for social causes aimed at a greener tomorrow. He added that Doha Bank believes knowledge dissemination across the globe is extremely crucial for the proper understanding and addressing of the relevant issues. Elaborating on the various aspects of Global Warming, he explained the cause, the dangers and how one can responsibly tackle it. He said that rapid urbanisation, industrialization, never ending need for energy, pollution and population growth have been creating severe imbalances in the ecological system. He gave several illustrations of catastrophes arising due to this phenomenon and said, ‘The world is getting warmer significantly, rising sea levels, melting of polar ice and glaciers worldwide, severe weather

changes resulting in increasing natural calamities like drought, floods, storm and heat waves are all results of global warming. We must do our bit to conserve the ecological balances globally’, he added.

Mr. R.Seetharaman elaborated on how the combination of ecological balance and economics has opened opportunities to address Global Warming by tapping the power of the global marketplace. The innovative ‘ecotnomic’ business model has attracted a great deal of support at the highest levels in light of the continuous migration of consumers towards ecotand – health conscious products. Moreover, geopolitical, environmental and socioeconomic realities have made sustainable industrial production a permanent global issue.

GLOBAL WARMING SEMINARS

Doha Bank sponsored the Team Technobike/TSR, a Qatari Team with three riders, lead by local British expatriate Tim Stevens, in the final round of the QMMF World Endurance Championship held at Losail on 10th November 07.

Mr.Seetharaman addressing the audience in Washington

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SENIOR APROINTMENTS

The following staff were blessed with new born babies:

1 Mrs. Rhanda Mekhael Freiwat Compliance

2 Mr. Udita Ruwan Mallawaarachchi CCB

3 Mrs. Maha Ibrahim Mahmoud Aboulebda Doha Islamic

4 Mr. Khurram Shahzad Zulfigar Trade Finance

5 Mr. Elie Gerges Samaan Direct Sales Unit

6 Mr. Ravikiran Mukkamala Ayyapa D`Bank

7 Mrs. Fathiyeh Ali Hasan Barbast Trade Finance

8 Mr. Hassan Ali Mohd.H. Kamal Corporate Branch

9 Mrs. Abeer Fadil Rafiq Internal Audit

10 Mrs. Nadia Abdulbaqi Motaqi Doha Islamic

11 Mr. Mohammad Hanif Shah Dad CCB

12 Mohammad Farhan Mansoor CCB

13 Mr. Irshad Azmatulla Wanware CEO`s Office

14 Mr. Zia Ullah Sanaullah CEO`s Office

15 Mr. Ala Eldin El Sheikh El Mamoun HR-Compensation & Benefits

16 MR.Mutasim Eltoum Elsayed Ahmed HR

We congratulate the following staff on their marriage:

1 Mr. Ramzi Jureidini Business Devt. & Mktg

2 Mr. Sameen Salman Compliance & Shareholders

3 Mr. Johnny Al Khoury Legal Department

4 Mr. HDSA Dissanayake Industrial Area Branch

5 Ms. Aisha Salem RM Al Marri Mushaireb Branch

MABROUK

Mr. Mohd Al MaslouqiSr. RelationshipManager.CCB

Mr. DeepakShivankarManager Project Finance

Mr. Ghaus BinIkramManager Anti-Money

Mr. Naveed MalikManagerProject

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MABROUKDecember 2007

Career Fair

Doha Bank participated in the biggest ever Qatar Career Fair jointly sponsored by Qatar Foundation ( QF ), Qatar Petroleum ( QP ) and Qatar University ( QU ) and held under the patronage of HH the Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al – Thani from November 18 to 21, 2007.

The event was scheduled at the Qatar International Exhibition Center, with the aim to showcase the range of recruitment opportunities,

training, development and career opportunities available to Qatari / Non Qatari students and fresh graduates. More than 100 companies from the public and private sector, from energy industry, banking, education, health and tourism fields participated in the event.We received an overwhelming response from Qatari / Non Qatari candidates with more than 500 CV’s.

DB STAFF TABLE TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Doha Bank organized the Third Annual Inter-Staff table tennis tournament at the Oasis Beach Club on 24th November 2007. The event was well attended and enjoyed by the staff and their families. Mr. R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer, awarded the winners with attractive cash prizes, certificates and trophies.

Organising such recreational events provides the staff a platform to interact and put their talents to good use. It is the Bank’s policy to create a conducive working environment where the staff gets an opportunity to grow. Due to this vision, Doha Bank is proud to have its own teams in other sports also i.e., Cricket, Football, Bowling, etc.

The winners & runners up of the Table Tennis tournament are as follows:

Men’s SinglesWinner RaviKiran (D Bank)Runner-up Salahuddin Fardavini (Al Mirqab Branch)Women’s SinglesWinner Bini K (Credit Cards)Runner-up Ginwa Nasr (West Bay Branch)Men’s DoublesWinner Ravikiran / Hussain Mohd. Hassan (D Bank)Runner-up Salahuddin Fardavini / Akram Al Nasr (Al Mirkab Branch) (Doha Islamic, Maither Br.)Mixed DoublesWinner Hussain Mohd. Hassan / Bini K.(D Bank) (Credit Cards)Runner-up Nabil Almamoon / Ghinwa Nasr (Back Office Ops) (West Bay Br)

Congratulations to all.