Citi aims for 25pc revenue growth

Citi is targeting 25 percent growth in revenues from client work in intra-Asia trade corridors this year as the bank reported strong growth in those avenues in 2018.

Citi's client growth will mainly come through a series of key trade corridors in the Asia Pacific region that the bank has identified and invested further resources in which has supported growth, the bank said in a statement.

The bank's key corridors include Korea to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Korea to China, Korea to India, Japan to Asean, Japan to China and China to Asean.

“Asia is capturing a greater share of global trade and US companies will increasingly target Asia and we expect strong growth as intra-Asian trade corridors expand further,” said Gerry Keefe, Citi's head of corporate banking for Asia Pacific.

Citi opened additional Asia desks over 2017 and 2018 to help clients as they look to expand to new areas and markets across these corridors, said the statement

The bank now has over 20 Asia desks in operation, including 11 China Desks, nine Korea Desks and an India Desk in New York and Korea. “Our aspiration is to be the best at everything we do and the best banking partner along the Asian Trade Corridor,” said N Rajashekaran, Citi country officer for Bangladesh.

Shams Zaman, head of corporate and investment banking at Citi Bangladesh, said, “Citi's strong network and long-standing relationships with clients and regulators across the corridor places Citi in an excellent position to partner the rapid growth and economic progress of Bangladesh.”

The work Citi does for clients in these corridors includes capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, trade finance, cash management and foreign exchange hedging.