The Trade Bank of Iraq (TBI) is planning to open branches in Lebanon and Turkey, as well as expanding its domestic reach.

The state-owned for-profit organisation was set up in 2003 and its core business is trade finance. It hopes that its expansion will allow it to become active in project finance, industrial and agricultural finance.

It’s expected that the influx of Iraqi citizens and businesses into the two countries will lead to continued development of trilateral trade. The bank is awaiting final approval from the Lebanese government and is soon to apply for its Turkish banking licence.

Hamdiyah al-Jaff, TBI’s president, says: “We are seeing growing trade activities between Iraq and countries like Lebanon, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates and we would like to expand our commercial operations and credit portfolio. A lot of projects are coming up in Iraq in different sectors, so we [also] want to be part of this.”