The Business Year to lead Islamic finance coverage in upcoming Kazakhstan edition

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ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The Business Year (TBY) has set its sights on covering the vast developments in Kazakhstan's Islamic finance sector in the upcoming The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018.

2017 has been a breakthrough year for Islamic finance in Kazakhstan, with a number of landmark announcements, exciting product launches, and expansions for existing providers, Kazinform has learnt from TBY.

In late August, Al Hilal Bank opened its first client service branch in Kazakhstan's commercial capital, Almaty. As the first sharia-compliant bank to enter the local market back in 2010 by serving corporate clients, the Abu Dhabi-based lender decided conditions were ripe to enter the retail segment and offer Islamic financial products to individuals. In the same month, the industry learnt of a fresh newcomer after commercial lender Zaman Bank announced that it had received a license from the National Bank of Kazakhstan to become the country's second Islamic bank.

These launches followed surges by Kazakhstan Ijara Company (KIC Leasing), the country's only Islamic leasing provider, and Al Saqr Finance, which, in 2016, made the strategic decision to transform into an Islamic financial organization, providing a wide range of Islamic finance services to corporate and retail sectors. Speaking to TBY, Al Saqr Finance CEO, Daniyar Uspanov, explained that, "with this growing trend, rather than seeing similar providers as competition, we view them as strategic partners who help us create awareness about the vast benefits of Islamic finance."

Yet the brightest prospects for this booming industry are in fact coming from government initiatives. Sending shockwaves across the Islamic finance world, in September 2017 Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced the country was anticipating a landmark Sukuk issuance worth USD300 million. Due in 2018, the plan to issue state Islamic bonds will represent the first such local offering, and can be seen as part of a bid to establish Kazakhstan as an emerging Islamic finance hub in Central Asia.

In line with this, all eyes will be on the Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC). Expected to launch in January 2018, the AIFC has identified Islamic finance as one of its six strategic directions for development.

TBY is closely following the rapid expansion of this industry, interviewing all the key stakeholders from government entities such as the National Bank of Kazakhstan and the AIFC, to private-sector providers such as Al Hilal Bank, Al Saqr Finance, and KIC Leasing.

According to TBY's Country Editor, Philip Pajevic-Merrell, "Islamic finance is fast emerging as the most exciting segment in global finance, yet around 80% of the market remains concentrated in a handful of countries, namely Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, the UAE, and Kuwait. Today, Kazakhstan is striving to take advantage of its geographic location amongst a 70 million-strong, predominantly Muslim population in Central Asia, and with its supporting regulations and infrastructure, it is clearly aspiring to become a hub in its own right."

TBY's detailed coverage and findings on Islamic finance, as well as all the major trends shaping the future of Kazakhstan's economy, will feature in the upcoming The Business Year: Kazakhstan 2018.

Present in over 30 countries, TBY provides first-hand access to the people and ideas shaping business and policy throughout the world. Each country-specific edition contains a comprehensive range of interviews and analyses, offering an inside look at doing business in the world's most dynamic economies. TBY's interviewees, readers, and partners comprise an international network of thought-leaders who are helping to define the future of the global economy.

 

 

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