(Feb 20): Emirates NBD Bank PJSC is expanding its footprint in Asia as capital flows between the Middle East and fast-growing Asian markets gather pace.
“Many Asian corporates are expanding operationally into the Middle East, and funding is a natural part of that,” Hitesh Asarpota, chief executive officer at Emirates NBD Capital, the bank’s investment banking unit, said in an interview. The firm has seen “growing demand from Asian issuers to access Middle East liquidity, particularly across loans and bond markets.”
The Gulf’s third-largest bank by market value remains anchored in its core Middle Eastern asset base but is building out capabilities in Asia, mirroring a wider push by global lenders such as HSBC Holdings Plc to tap growing cross-border flows between the two regions.
The Dubai-based bank obtained an investment banking licence in Singapore last November, and plans to focus on loan syndications, debt and equity capital markets with a focus on access to Middle Eastern investors, according to Asarpota. It is also gaining ground in India, where it secured a merchant banking permit last month and plans to build a team of at least 15 investment bankers by year end, Asarpota added.
In Singapore, the bank has already done two bond issuances this year for Asian issuers, BOC Aviation Ltd and Far East Horizon Ltd.
Middle Eastern investors, including sovereign wealth funds, have stepped up capital allocations to Asia, particularly across China and India, while Asian corporates are expanding in the Gulf, especially in infrastructure and renewables.
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In the UAE, “banking liquidity has been the highest it’s been” with demand for Asian assets “relatively sector-agnostic,” Asarpota said. Appetite among Middle Eastern investors is thinner for longer-dated project finance loans in Asia, he said.
Middle Eastern borrowers raised about US$14.2 billion through syndicated loans across Asia Pacific in 2025, a record and a 175% increase from the previous year, according to Bloomberg-compiled data tracking volumes since 1999.
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