The organisation is expected to start interviewing candidates shortly for a single role as head of both offices, with the idea that this individual would split his or her time between the locations, Jersey Finance officials said.
The Middle East office is likely to be in the United Arab Emirates, although it is understood that the choice could be influenced by the current location of the individual chosen to be the regional representative.
As for India, it is thought that Mumbai will get the nod.
Funding for the two offices will come in part from fiscal stimulus money that government officials unveiled in February, as part of what was described at the time as an effort “to protect Jersey’s key industry from external threats, to develop new business with emerging markets and to promote inward investment”.
Results in six months
As reported earlier this week, Jersey’s bank deposits originating from Far East sources more than doubled in the first six months after the island opened a marketing office in Hong Kong last October.
During the same period, Jersey deposits attributed to sources in the Middle East – where the jurisdiction does not yet have an office – grew only 1.3%, and as a percentage of total deposits actually declined slightly, to 10.4% from 10.7%.
In addition to that Hong Kong office, Jersey also has a marketing office in London, which opened in the first half of 2009.
