The Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait (BBK), Bahrain's leading bank in individual and commercial banking, has announced that it opened its first agency in Turkey in Istanbul's commerce and finance center. According to BBK's announcement, the new agency will take over primary assignments, including establishing close relations with its current and future customers in Turkey, monitoring developments in the domestic market and directly contacting Turkish authorities.BBK CEO Reyadh Sater said one of the bank's leading strategies was international expansion and differentiation. Stating that as a commercial partner of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Turkey was a notably large and important market for them, Sater said: "Turkey is also a key country for our expansion strategy. Established on the basis of our expansion strategy determined by the executive board, our agency is the first step in the several expansions we plan to make in the coming period."Sater indicated that thanks to this agency, closer relations could be established with companies that have commercial ties with India, as well as customers, financial institutions, Bahrain and GCC countries. Stressing that with this step, which was also important in order to deepen the commercial relations between the two countries, they could support Bahraini companies that wished to establish commercial ties and make investments in Turkey, Sater added that they valued their relations with Turkey, and in the future, in accordance with GCC countries and Turkey's exports, they would continue to serve their customers better and meet their expectations.According to the announcement, BBK has an agency in Kuwait along with the one in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The bank also has four full-fledged agencies in India — in Mumbai, Hyderabad, Aluva (Kerala) and New Delhi — and one agency in Dubai. BBK also serves their customers in countries where it does not physically operate through the International Banking Division. Additionally, BBK also has a presence in other geographical regions via its affiliates and partnerships.