File 1329/1910 'Persia: Imperial Bank (Seistan Branch)' [‎30r] (63/343)

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local trade by assisting traders with all necessary information; by the exhibit
of samples, and by obtaining goods for them from the European firms on the
payment of some percentage of the purchase price, the goods themselyes being
subsequently held as guarantee for payment of the remainder. They have
a branch at Karachi which gives them important facilities in the matter of
receiving and forwarding goods from Europe.
They have banking transactions with the Imperial Rank of Persia and it
^ill be as easy for them to continue the same at Seistan with the branch of
that Bank at Meshed as they now do at Quetta with the Seistan branch.
6. The question of the extent to which Government should guarantee a
new Bank and Trade Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Seistan is one which I will not deal with
here, but the grant to them of the guarantee now given to the Seistan branch
of the Imperial Bank of Persia would at first sight appear sufficient and be
likely to be accepted.
I am not fully aware of the title of the Imperial Bank of Persia to the
Bank buildings in Seistan, and whether they are wholly Bank property or
belong in whole or part to Government. Their transfer in either case to a new
Bank should present no great difliculty, but if they belong wholly to the
Imperial Bank of Persia, then great initial cost would necessitate some assis
tance being given by Government towards their acquisition by the new
Bank.
7. I am confident that the institution of a combined Bank and Trading
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. at Seistan will lead to satisfactory results by giving Persian traders
the.information and assistance, the want of which at present hampers their
individual efforts to deal with business firms in India and Europe. Their
ignorance of our business methods, of how to arrange for the conveyance of
their goods to and from India by road and rail, and of the English language
necessary for direct business transactions amount under present conditions to
an effective obstacle to trade. A Trade Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. on the lines indicated bv
Major Kennion will remove this and afford a great impetus to trade.
8. Among the seven proposals made by Major Kennion in paragraph 3 of
his letter two, i.e. Nos. (1) and (4), refer to Kain. He advocates the institution
of a Vice-Consulate and a branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia at Biriand.
As regards the Vice-Consulate I have long considered that this is a necessary
measure but as the matter is one of a political nature it falls outside the scope
of this letter which deals with commercial questions and I need say no more
about it. *
9. Birjand is, as Major Kennion states, more important commercially
than Seistan, but in order to demonstrate its importance it is not necessary to
minimise the potential possibilities of Seistan.
In considering any measures for the promotion of trade in one of these
two places full consideration should be given to the requirements of the other
and whatever is done for the one place should be done for the other.
It is most essential to open a Bank in Birjand but still more so to open a
combined Bank and Trade Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. there. If the Imperial Bank of Persia
cannot be prevailed upon, to do this in Seistan I would deprecate their beino*
asked to institute a branch for merely banking business in Birjand. On the
other hand if the Punjab Banking Company or any other firm can be induced
to take the place of the Imperial Bank of Persia in Seistan and start a Trade
Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. there, they should be asked as a necessary condition of Government
assistance or guarantee, to also open a branch on the same lines in Biriand.
Their doing so will go far to ensure the financial success of the venture as a
whole.
^ The fact of Seistan being the Head-Quarters of the British Consulate of
Seistan and Kain and the existence of the large Bank buildings at Seistan,
would necessitate that place remaining the principal branch of the new Bank
and Trade Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. and the Birjand branch should at first at any rate be subor
dinate to it. It might be sufficient in the first instance to open at Birjand
with a small establishment, until the success of that branch suggests or neces
sitates further development.