HSBC hosted a gala dinner for its prime trade customers at the Park Hyatt Hotel on 28th September, 2005 in Dubai with Indian cricket star Ravi Shastri as the special guest. The occasion included prizes being awarded to winners and runners-up of the HSBC Cricket Cup held in the previous week.
Ravi Shastri is best known in Indian cricket as one of the leading all-rounders of the sport. He made his debut for India at the age of 17, starting his career purely as a bowler but evolving into a batsman who could bowl. His career reached a high point after being elected the Champion of Champions in the World Championship of Cricket in Australia in 1985. He still holds the world record for the fastest first class double century.
During the evening Ravi Shastri spoke about his sport, answered questions from guests and presented the awards. Al Danube received the highest team honours for winning the tournament’s Main Event against New Medical Centre (NMC). Also receiving team awards were ETA Ascon, who won the Plate Event, and Ghantoot, who won the Fair Play Trophy.
During the dinner, David Hodgkinson, Deputy Chairman and CEO HSBC Bank Middle East Limited said, “We are committed to working in partnership with you, our prime trade services clients, and helping you and your company to prosper and grow through a deep understanding of your needs and aspirations. But our efforts to build mutually beneficial relationships go even deeper. Through our support for international sporting and other events, we are able to respond to the interests that many of our clients have outside of the office or factory.”
Notes to editors:
1. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited
HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East. HSBC Bank Middle East Limited has 29 branches throughout the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Autonomous Area, including an offshore banking unit in Bahrain. This extensive regional coverage is strengthened by another member of the HSBC Group HSBC Bank Egypt SAE, and by its associated companies, The Saudi British Bank and British Arab Commercial Bank Limited. In addition to its Middle Eastern network, the Bank has a representative office in Tehran, Iran.
2. Sponsorships
HSBC is an active supporter of global sporting events and caters to the diverse sporting interests of its local and global customers by sponsoring a variety of events. Its most recent high profile sponsorship includes The HSBC Men’s World Matchplay at Wentworth in the UK in September and the first Ladies World Matchplay held in the US in July. In Dubai, HSBC has been a long-time sponsor of the Dubai Rugby Sevens and the Dubai World Cup.
3. HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Bank Middle East Limited has been a principal member of the HSBC Group since 1959. Serving over 110 million customers worldwide, the HSBC Group has approximately 9,700 offices in 77 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa. With assets of US$1,467 billion at 30 June 2005, HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations. HSBC is marketed worldwide as ‘the world’s local bank’.
