By Paras Ramoutar
Port-of-Spain, July 11 (IANS) Bank of Baroda has created history by opening two branches in one country in a day, according to M.D. Mallya, global chairman and managing director.

Mallya underscored this point in an address at the opening of the Bank of Baroda’s second branch in Chaguanas, Central Trinidad, Friday. The other one was opened in San Fernando.

Mallya praised the government of Trinidad and Tobago and the central bank for their cooperation in bringing this project to its conclusion.

“We have been able to assess and analyse the social ethos of the people of Chaguanas. We will continue in the same trend that we started when we opened our first branch in Port-of-Spain in October 2007,” he said.

Bank of Baroda has over 36 million customers in over 25 countries across the globe. “We have survived two world wars and the great depression among other serious economic issues. We will continue to serve the people as we have done so far,” Mallya said.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister in the Ministry of Finance Senator Mariano Browne praised the initiatives of the Bank of Baroda for its insight in investing in Trinidad and Tobago.

He hailed the recent India Trade Mission to Trinidad and Tobago as a success.

Browne said that India was the fourth largest trading country in the world, and he hoped Trinidad and Tobago will continue to meet Indian businessmen on a regular basis.

He said that at the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference in this country Nov 26-29, more than 1,000 businessmen are expected to discuss multilateral trading agreements, of which Indian businessmen would be a part.

“We will continue to work with the Bank of Baroda. We will give it our support as it has demonstrated a spirit of innovation.”

Indian High Commissioner Malay Mishra said that Bank of Baroda had created history by opening two branches in one country in the same day. He urged the bank to extend its operations to other sectors of the economy.

Mishra said that Bank of Baroda continued to show its marketing skills to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, adding that less than two years after opening its first branch in Port-of-Spain, it has demonstrated “confidence in the local economy” by opening two more.

MP for Chaguanas West Jack Warner saw great opportunities for the branch in the area, which had a primarily agriculture-based economy. Warner said the bank’s marketing initiatives must focus on the farmers and the small businessmen, giving them priority loans at affordable rates.

This country’s Indian diaspora came from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar between 1845 and 1917 to work on the sugar plantations and to boost agriculture. Around 44 percent of the 1.3 million people in Trinidad and Tobago are of Indian descent.