News From : DagangHalal.com (27 Oct 2010)
Islamic banking institute in bank joint venture
KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM) has joined forces with Maldives Islamic Bank to set up the first Islamic bank in Maldives, which aims to be operational next January.
Both parties signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) yesterday at the Global Islamic Finance Forum.
The MoA will bind both parties to co-develop Islamic finance in the Maldives through an extensive study of Maldives’ legal and banking framework to create a harmonised environment for the growth of Islamic finance.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Bank Negara deputy governor Datuk Mohd Razif Abd Kadir and IBFIM chairman Datuk Seri Zukri Samat.
Maldives Islamic Bank chairman Khaled Al-Aboodi said the bank hoped to capture up to 25% of its local market share within three years or so by offering Islamic finance products targeting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and fisheries.
“We are looking at offering services for retail banking, which include takaful products and mortgage financing. We are also working with a Malaysian partner to come up with a savings scheme but have not yet firmed up the relevant agreements,” he said during a press conference after the signing ceremony.
Maldives Islamic Bank will have one branch in the first year of operations before opening more subsequently.
Khaled added that the team was headed by a Malaysian chief executive officer. According to a press statement, the Maldives Islamic Bank managing director is Harith Harun.
With a 100% Muslim population of some 330,000 individuals in Maldives, Khaled expects strong demand for syariah compliant products to drive the bank’s future growth. There are currently four conventional banks in the Maldives.
Maldives Islamic Bank is 70% owned by Jeddah-based Islamic Corp for the Development of the Private Sector, a subsidiary of Islamic Development Bank while the remaining stake is held by the Maldives government.
Meanwhile, IBFIM chief executive officer Datuk Dr Adnan Alias said IBFIM was looking at further collaborations with Chinese partners involving the Muslim community centre-cum-regional finance centre project in Shenyang City, China, with a gross development value of RM11bil.
This project involved Shenyang Malaysia Development Sdn Bhd and the Administrative Committee of the Shenyang Finance Development Zone finalising the relocation of the community there.
“The mayor will be coming next week and we will look at how we can help facilitate this project further,” said Adnan.
– The Star Online