News, current affairs commentary, customs and customs about the Middle East

Current news about the Middle East: Fan Yifei is satisfied with the cooperation with Bank of America that CCB’s investment in the Middle East has not suffered any losses. On April 1, Fan Yifei, vice president of China Construction Bank (601939SH, 0939HK), accepted an interview with China Times and other An exclusive interview with the media provided detailed answers on the bank’s overseas development strategy. Fan Yifei also gave a detailed introduction to the issues of market concern. He said that China Construction Bank has not suffered any losses from its investments in the Middle East; for more than four years, China Construction Bank and Bank of America have fully complied with and implemented the original agreement, becoming state-owned banks open to foreign investment. Classic case. Investment in the Middle East has not suffered losses Fan Yifei said that CCB’s loans in the Middle East have not caused losses. For loans that may be negatively affected, adequate provisions have been made in accordance with prudent principles and have been successfully restructured not long ago. The bank currently has no loan balances for commercial institutions in Dubai. Fan Yifei said that CCB has long been paying close attention to the economic development of the Gulf region, including Dubai, and is deeply impressed by its internationalization and diversification initiatives. He believes that places such as Dubai have their own unique advantages and good prospects. CCB has been actively and prudently exploring various ways to expand business in the above-mentioned areas, including adding specialized institutions when appropriate. Previously, some media reported that in 2009, CCB’s large overseas investment bad debts included a loan of about US$1 billion from its Hong Kong branch to Dubai World. This non-performing loan was equivalent to about 7 billion yuan. The debt restructuring plan announced by Dubai World (Group), a Dubai government-controlled corporate entity that was once in trouble due to the debt crisis, has currently received support from major creditors including HSBC Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland. Dubai World issued a statement on March 25 saying that the company plans to raise funds through two new debt issuances in the next 5 to 8 years to repay all its debts owed to other creditors except the Dubai Financial Assistance Fund, totaling approximately US$14.2 billion. . In addition, the Dubai government also stated that it will provide a new capital injection of US$9.5 billion to Dubai World to help it complete its debt restructuring. It was also reported that data disclosed by the UAE Banking Association showed that as of the end of 2008, among the top ten banks with the largest loan balances in the country, HSBC had the largest loan balance of US$17.03 billion; Lloyds Bank of the United Kingdom had the smallest loan balance of US$15.7 billion, CCB is not included in this list. Cooperation with Bank of America is a classic case. Fan Yifei said that in June 2005, China Construction Bank signed an investment agreement with Bank of America and at the same time signed a strategic assistance agreement. In September of the same year, strategic assistance was officially launched. "Over the past four years, both parties have fully complied with and implemented the original agreement, becoming a classic case of state-owned banks opening up to foreign investment." Up to now, China Construction Bank and Bank of America have completed a total of 41 assistance projects, 31 consulting projects, 233 An experience sharing project, more than 1,550 experts from Bank of America participated in strategic assistance. Five sessions of ***43 middle-level managers went to the United States for on-the-job training, and nearly 3,900 employees received various trainings provided by experts from the Bank of America. After more than four years of cooperation, strategic assistance has enabled CCB to gain comprehensive benefits in changing concepts, introducing technology, improving processes, and training talents. Internationally advanced banking management concepts are gradually being transformed into CCB’s daily actions, such as the introduction of Bank of America. The "Voice of Customers" survey method promotes the implementation of CCB's "customer-centric" concept; learns from Bank of America's "data-based management" and promotes CCB's management model from "experience management" to "data management" to a refined management approach Transformation; learn from Bank of America’s process standardization and consistency practices to promote the construction of CCB’s “process bank”. Through close cooperation between the two parties, CCB has achieved substantial results in various key business and management areas. Ordinary retail outlets have realized the transformation from "transaction accounting type" to "sales service type". By the end of 2009, 13,000 CCB branches had achieved transformation. After the transformation, the average daily sales of products at the outlets increased by 64.8%, the average waiting time of customers was shortened by 33.3%, and the proportion of customers waiting for less than 10 minutes reached 81%. The financial management center has realized the transformation from "product-driven" to "customer-driven". A total of 1,200 branches have achieved the second-generation transformation, the proportion of VIP customer service hours has increased by 31%, and product sales have increased by 14% compared with before the transformation. Surveys by relevant independent institutions show that the service quality of China Construction Bank branches is second to none among major banks.

Acquisition of Bank of America Hong Kong at a low price brings huge profits Fan Yifei is very satisfied with CCB’s acquisition of Bank of America Hong Kong and the development of CCB Asia after the acquisition. On December 29, 2006, China Construction Bank completed the acquisition of Bank of America Asia for HK$9.71 billion and changed its name to China Construction Bank (Asia) Co., Ltd. CCB Asia has now become the main platform for CCB to carry out retail and commercial banking business in Hong Kong and Macao. In three years, CCB Asia has achieved rapid development by leaps and bounds: assets have grown from HK$36.9 billion to HK$81.6 billion, customer deposits have grown from HK$26.1 billion to HK$52.6 billion, and customer loans have grown from HK$26.6 billion to HK$60.7 billion. In addition, the number of retail outlets in Hong Kong and Macau increased from 17 at the end of 2006 to 48 (40 in Hong Kong and 8 in Macau). During this process, CCB Asia has also completed tasks such as integrating institutional business, cutting off from the U.S. banking system, and acquiring American International Credit (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. While maintaining excellent asset quality and making sufficient provisions, CCB Asia achieved an after-tax profit of HK$888 million in 2009, a record high. CCB’s business content in Hong Kong is becoming increasingly rich. In November 2009, CCB Asia successfully acquired American International Credit (Hong Kong) Limited (AIGF) and changed its name to China Construction Bank (Asia) Finance Limited (CCBAF). As a restricted licensed bank, CCBAF's main business is credit cards, personal unsecured loans and car loans. It has issued more than 500,000 credit cards and has about 480,000 cardholders. It occupies about 5% of the credit card market in Hong Kong. share. What also satisfied CCB was the unusual purchase price. It should be said that due to the full support of the management of CCB's head office, well-chosen acquisition timing and fast operation speed, these are the keys to the successful acquisition at a more ideal price. The acquisition price of US$73.5 million was less than 0.5 times its net asset value. Only financial accounting shows that CCBAF's net assets at the end of September last year reached HK$1.254 billion, which was nearly HK$600 million more than the acquisition price. In the current situation where overseas acquisitions are often three times or four times the acquisition price-to-book ratio, this acquisition is indeed somewhat "unusual." China's Special Envoy for the Middle East held talks with the EU's Special Representative for the Middle East. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' website, China's Special Envoy for the Middle East Wu Sike held talks with the EU's Special Representative for the Middle East, Ott, in Brussels on April 1. The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on the Middle East issue, expressed concern over the stagnation of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, and called on relevant parties to cooperate with the international community's peace-promoting efforts and take practical actions to create conditions for the resumption of peace talks. Both sides agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation and jointly promote the early realization of comprehensive and lasting peace and stability in the Middle East. International Sports Conference is held in the Middle East for the first time. Thousands of high-level sports officials will attend. According to foreign reports: The 2010 International Sports Conference (SportAccord) is a five-day sports event and will be attended by 1,500 high-level representatives of the international sports community. This annual meeting includes the congresses and general assemblies of more than 100 international sports federations and their associated associations. This year, the 8th Annual International Sports Congress will be held from April 25 to 30, 2010 at Atlantis, a resort on the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai. This is also the first time that an international sports conference is held in the Middle East. In order to highlight Dubai's status as an international central city, the themes of the 2010 International Sports Conference were set as "Geographical Regional Changes in the International Sports World" and "The Key Role of Sports in Major International Affairs." Other relevant topics include: the role of sport in social change, sport in the Middle East, the leadership role of sport in sustainable development, sports autonomy and sports sponsorship. Speakers at the conference include: FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter, former Moroccan Sports Minister Nawal El Moutawakel and Li About the chairman of the 2016 Coordination Committee, etc., they will talk about sports autonomy and the role of non-sports authorities in sports management. The adoption of the Lisbon Treaty in the EU in December 2009 marked a key turning point in the field of sports regulation in 2010, and also enhanced the role of Brussels in the Middle East. This is the first time the EU has given so-called support powers to the sports world. The EU's new Pierre de Coubertin Action Plan includes more than 50 recommendations for sports activities, highlighting the positive role of sport at the social, economic and organizational levels.

In a strategy session moderated by Michael R. Payne, former director of marketing and broadcast rights marketing at the International Olympic Committee, CEOs from major sports sponsors around the world will discuss recent hot topics issues and market trends. Representatives from adidas, Swiss Chrono, Audi and Emirates will provide insights into how sponsors and the sports community can work together to achieve the most effective partnerships. Middle Eastern oil-producing countries are building crude oil inventories in Asia to prevent Russia from grabbing business. European and American countries have always been centers of oil demand in the past. However, after the global financial crisis, demand has slumped, and Middle Eastern oil-producing countries have been forced to seize the market in Asia and Russia. Russia's increased crude oil supplies to Asia may prompt Middle Eastern oil producers to accelerate plans to expand their inventory in Asia. Russia supplies high-quality and low-price crude oil through its oil pipeline from Eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast, which has the potential to replace Middle Eastern oil-producing countries in major Asian oil consumption markets such as China, India, South Korea and Taiwan. In December, Saudi Arabian Oil Minister al-Naimi said the kingdom had accepted a proposal to build "millions of barrels" of commercial crude oil storage in Japan, underscoring the growing importance of China and Asia as demand centers. The plan is still under negotiation. Saudi Arabia lags behind Abu Dhabi in seizing the East Asian market. As early as last year, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company had stored crude oil in an oil depot in southern Japan. Industry insiders said that in addition to North Asia, Middle East oil-producing countries are also studying the possibility of storing crude oil in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Sources revealed that the underground oil storage facilities under construction in Singapore have attracted interest from Middle East oil-producing countries including Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is also considering storing crude oil in China. Russia currently ships ESPO crude oil to Asia at about 300,000 barrels per day, with plans to increase to 600,000 barrels per day by the end of this year. Although the export volume is not large compared to the Gulf region, Russian crude oil can directly enter the few consumption centers where demand is still growing, thus threatening the market share of Middle Eastern producers.