Asiamoney New Silk Road Finance Awards

When assessing the winners of this award, one bank stood well above the rest. Standard Chartered’s credentials in south Asia are irrefutable. The bank has more than 150 years of history and a hefty on-the-ground presence in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, with 250 branches in all and 14,000-plus employees. Since the idea of a New Silk Road was floated in 2013 by Chinese president Xi Jinping, StanChart has worked assiduously to make the project work for its clients.

South Asia is vital to the New Silk Road. But it can be a tough region in which to do business. Its powerhouse sovereign, India, is wary of the project, while Pakistan, desperate for capital, is often beset by political turbulence. In this context, China needs a determined, committed and well-capitalized home-grown lender, capable of driving the geopolitical project of the century.

Does Beijing have a better regional commercial banking partner in south Asia than HBL? It’s hard to imagine who they might be. The Karachi-listed bank, Pakistan’s largest by assets, has completely bought into the Belt and Road Initiative. It was the first Pakistan lender to initiate China coverage in 2013, at branches in three cities: Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. China, in turn, has garlanded it with praise and handed out new branch licences at, by Beijing’s usual standards, warp speed.

China’s maritime Silk Road relies heavily on access to the Suez Canal, so it is not surprising that soon after the BRI was announced in 2013, work began on a multi-billion-dollar upgrade of the canal.

Local excellence set within the framework of a would-be global development programme that a) is still evolving and b) whose ultimate ambition remains nebulous, is not easy to achieve. But get the right institution, staffed by a group of experienced managers with ambition, capital, gumption and the spirit of adventure, and it can be done. For proof, look at the example set by Green Delta Capital, a seven-year-old boutique investment bank located in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka. Overseen by chief executive and managing director Rafiqul Islam, GDC has grown steadily, structuring and arranging, since 2011, $750 million-worth of onshore transactions and helping Bangladesh firms raise $88 million-worth of fresh equity.

Since its inception in 2013, BRI crept into various sectors and countries in the Middle East and Africa. But at the heart of China’s engagement with Africa remains infrastructure. Demolishing dilapidated transport routes – relics of Africa’s colonial past – and replacing them with shiny new railway lines, roads and ports not only boosts China’s trade with Africa and Europe, but also has the potential to transform Africa’s development.

It is a familiar adage: China is known for its insatiable hunger for fossil fuels, so governments in the Middle East and Africa, awash with oil and gas, keep China fuelled, in return, China provides cheap financing for infrastructure development.

First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) has built up a number of high-level Chinese clients looking to take advantage of its strong presence in the Middle East and its growing authority in Asia. The bank’s list of clients includes China State Construction Bank, China’s state-owned chemical company ChemChina and Jinko Solar, which is the world’s largest solar panel manufacturer and is headquartered in Shanghai.

HSBC’s global network and expertise around BRI makes the bank this year’s winner for the best international bank in the Middle East and Africa for BRI.