The Mediterranean Bank Network recently held its AGM at Banco Popolare, a member bank that currently chairs the network.

The meeting offered members the opportunity to discuss further incentives to continually increase intra-network business and the sharing of opinions and experiences. This ongoing exercise will be conferred at the next official meeting this coming autumn.

Mediterranean Bank Network will soon celebrate its 11th year since it was established in the spirit of the EU’s “Barcelona Declaration: Euro-Mediterranean Partnership”. Membership is exclusive to one bank per country.

The Network’s major objective is the strategic collaboration between its members in all areas, the reinforcement of their relationships and hence contributes to the internationalisation of banks and economies in the Mediterranean. Member banks are advantaged by the fact that all have a virtual presence in the member countries without incurring the substantial costs required in setting up overseas branches.

The current members include three of the founding members namely Bank of Valletta (Malta), Nova Ljubljanska Banka (Slovenia) and Banque Internationale Arabe de Tunisie (Tunisia), as well as Commercial International Bank, (Egypt) BancoSabadell (Spain), Hellenic Bank (Cyprus), Banco Poplare (Italy), Israel Discount Bank, Bank of Jordan and Zagrebacka Banka (Croatia).