Malaysia set to attract more demand for sukuk

BIX manager Ahmad Al Izham Izadin said that there were huge opportunities for Malaysia to leverage this ambitious plan, serving not just Muslim countries but also non-Muslim countries seeking Islamic financing.(File pic shows the bix logo at an exhibition booth in Kuala Lumpur recently.)

KUALA LUMPUR: Being the world's biggest sukuk issuer, Malaysia is set to attract more demand for syariah-compliant bond worldwide via an initiative taken by the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) to serve the US$2 trillion global Islamic finance market, said the Bond and Sukuk Information Exchange (BIX Malaysia).

BIX manager Ahmad Al Izham Izadin said that there were huge opportunities for Malaysia to leverage this ambitious plan, serving not just Muslim countries but also non-Muslim countries seeking Islamic financing.

“By having this alliance too, other countries can actually take advantage of the demand from investors in Malaysia.

“(And) at the same time, we can also have more options by having other countries joining us in terms of investments.

But, of course, we have to be careful of the currency,” he told Bernama on the sidelines of the Second Islamic Fintech Dialogue 2019 (IFD2019), here yesterday.

In December last year, Qatar announced its initiative with Malaysia and Turkey to serve the global Islamic finance market from hubs in the three countries using common platforms and technology as it moved away its high dependence on the oil and gas sector.

Under the plan, QFC chief executive officer Yousef Mohamed Al Jaida was reported as saying that “Turkey would cover Islamic finance needs in Europe, Qatar would serve the greater Middle East and Malaysia would sell to Asia”. — Bernama