London forging closer ties with KL in Islamic Finance

KUALA LUMPUR: London is forging closer ties with Kuala Lumpur in the area of Islamic finance in an effort to serve global trade and investment, the Lord Mayor of the City of London said. 

Alderman Alan Yarrow, who is leading a two-day business delegation to Kuala Lumpur ending today, said the main goal of his visit was to build partnership between the UK and Malaysia. 

"I want to make sure that the City of London and the rest of the United Kingdom are Malaysia's first thought when they want to do business," he told reporters at the Islamic Finance Asia Forum 'Investors Day' on Tuesday. 

Yarrow said this was particularly the case for those working in the Islamic Finance market where the UK is the leading one outside the Islamic world. 

"Our expertise in Syariah-compliant products is second to none in the Western world. So, I will be championing our firms here and looking to build bridges for potential new partnerships in Malaysia. 

"Kuala Lumpur is a good place in which to deliver it. Not only do we have major elements of shared history, including both being my home... but we share membership of the Commonwealth," he said. 

There are very significant flows of both trade and investment between the countries, with the latest figures of bilateral trade accounting for around 4.6 billion pounds (RM25.8 billion) a year, a 27% increase since 2009. 

Yarrow also pointed out that both countries have been brought together by Islamic finance, with more than 20 banks in London offering Islamic products, of which six were fully Syariah-compliant. 

"The most developed market for Syariah-compliant is Malaysia. 

"We want to see more investment using Islamic finance tools and with Malaysia having the largest sukuk market in the world, we are keen to see stronger ties in between our financial districts," he said. 

With the market growing 50% faster than traditional banking, he said Malaysia has its unique capabilities to offer the international finance and London is open to investment opportunities via Islamic finance. 

The global market in Islamic finance is currently estimated to be worth about US$1.3 trillion, or just one per cent of the world's total financial assets.- Bernama