News From : DagangHalal.com (27 Apr 2010)
ABU DHABI, April 27 (Bernama) — Bursa Malaysia plans to expand the range of commodities used on Bursa Suq Al-Sila over the next few months to a year, on expectations that Islamic banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), will come on board.
At the moment, crude palm oil (CPO) is being used but there are plans to consider metals or other commodities, said Bursa Malaysia Bhd Chief Executive Officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff.
“Our team is still looking at sourcing the supply and the various types of commodities that can be used,” he told Malaysian reporters on the sidelines of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) road show here today.
Yusli said the exchange was working with commodity suppliers in the region, who had the necessary volume and accessibility for such an undertaking.
He however, did not elaborate further on the parties involved.
Bursa Suq Al-Sila is a product of the MIFC initiatives. It is a platform to help Islamic banks manage their short-term liquidity.
Launched in August last year, Bursa Suq Al Sila’ is also a purposefully-designed exchange-traded platform, to facilitate commodity murabahah transactions.
It is the first internet-based platform in the world with CPO as its underlying base commodity.
“If more players come on board, there is a need for us to expand the range of commodities or assets. We are hoping that over the next few months to a year, we can make some announcement,” he added.
Yusli said about 90 per cent of Malaysian Islamic banks are currently using this platform with also some cross-border trade by international Islamic banks.
However, he added, the average trading volume by foreign participants is still quite negligible.
“We are very keen to invite big GCC banks to trade on this platform. Through this road show, we hope to raise the profile of Bursa Suq Al-Sila. There is a big potential to be tapped in this region,” he explained.
Yusli is part of the MIFC delegation on a road show to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, which among others, seeks to woo GCC investors into Malaysia.
Abu Dhabi, which is the first stop on the road show, will see the delegation meeting with various investments and related agencies including the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Waha Capital and Mudabala Development Corporation.
The Raja Muda Perak, Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, who is the MIFC Financial Ambassador, is leading the MIFC delegation.
The road show ends in Riyadh on May 2.
— BERNAMA
