By
NAB and China Development Bank (CDB) have signed a ‘memorandum of understanding’, allowing greater collaboration between the two parties.
The memorandum will promote closer cooperation across a number of areas including major projects relating to natural resources, infrastructure, agriculture and technology. Further collaboration across trade finance, capital markets, foreign exchange as well as business training programs will also be explored.
NAB spokesperson, Elisha Vincent, assures Australian Broker that the memorandum doesn’t signify any potential relocation of jobs – unlike Westpac’s move to offshore mortgage service jobs to the India and the Philippines, announced earlier this month.
“Essentially, memorandums promote closer cooperation between the two organisations – they’re just basically a business agreement.”
#pb# She says the ‘business training programs’ mentioned above will involve courses teaching Australian bank staff how to deal with Chinese customers – and vice a versa.
Mark Joiner, executive director of finance at NAB, says the agreement is an ‘important milestone’ in extending the lender’s relationship with strategic partners in China.
“The relationship recognises the bank’s commitment to expanding our capabilities around the needs of our customers in both China and Australia”.
The memorandum is the fourth cross-border financial services collaboration that NAB has undertaken in China following an agreement with China Huarong Asset Management Company in 2011, Agricultural Development Bank of China and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank in 2008.
