CHAIRMAN'S SPEECH

 

MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN  ON THE MERGING OF

BANQUE MISR AND BANQUE DU CAIRE

 

 

 

I would like to begin by paying a special tribute to one of the leading characters in Egypt’s modern history, the nationalist industrial entrepreneur, Talaat Pasha Harb whom we all hold in reverence and respect. He founded Banque Misr and its group of companies (The first holding  company of its kind in Egypt) in 1920 to integrate and enrich the Egyptian capital market at this time in history.

 

With the decision of merging Banque Misr and Banque du Caire that will effectively create the country’s largest bank ahead of National Bank of Egypt, we have a lot of work to do and many obligations to fulfill .

 

Banque Misr, in fact, has a solid experience in mergers resulting from its past two successful acquisitions of the Bank of Credit and Commerce and Misr Exterior Bank.

 

In this new challenge, we are dedicated to succeed with the least negative effects on the merged entity.

 

We have overcome several difficulties before and place before our eyes a very important element in the merging, that is, the execution plan. The bank is  currently implementing a comprehensive development plan in coordination with a team of consultants from ABN Amro Bank. The plan mainly focuses on restructuring three vital fronts namely, the human resources, risk management and information technology.

 

The objective is not only to keep our market share but to increase and invest it through the ultimate use of our potentials   in the face of an intensifying competition from foreign banks that endeavour to expand their network of branches  and clientele base.                                                                             

 

I believe that the merging would  positively affect the bank’s staff and customers alike as it would create  a new stronger entity that is capable of competing locally and internationally.

 

The strength of the merged bank would not only be represented in its strong financial position, its shareholders equity and its network of branches but also in its competitiveness in terms of performance standard and quality of services and products .

 

We consider the merging as a step forward to survive in a fiercely competitive environment and a way as well towards fulfilling our aspiration to be among the top  world banks .