The management and staff of Indian Weekender hosted a dinner to farewell the former Bank of Baroda New Zealand Managing Director Satish Vermani last week.
Mrs Vermani, Navin Upreti, who is Mr Vermani’s successor as the new Managing Director and the staff of Bank of Baroda NZ’s Dominion Road branch also attended the dinner, which was held at the India Gate restaurant.
Mr Vermani looked back with satisfaction at his stint in New Zealand, where he set up India’s first ever banking operation. The twenty months he spent here were rewarding, he said. He thanked the Kiwi Indian for the wholehearted support they extended to the bank during the process of setting up operations. He said in just about a year, the bank had notched up 2000 customers.
He said he would be pleased to meet the hundreds of Kiwi Indian friends he had made here when they visited India. The former Managing Director and his wife left for India last weekend and he will be stationed in his home town of Jaipur until he receives his next posting somewhere in the country.
Meanwhile, Mr Upreti has taken up the reins as the new Managing Director. He will now oversee the future growth of the bank in New Zealand, which will be spurred by the establishment of two new branches – one each in Manukau and Wellington. Mr Upreti said Mr Vermani had left an excellent platform from which to build the bank’s business.