KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) — One of Turkey’s biggest
financial institutions, the Asya Bank, has indicated an interest in
forging cooperation with Islamic banks in Malaysia, namely Maybank Bhd
and CIMB Bank.
The aim is to establish an Islamic Bank in Turkey.
“Although Turkey was once an Islamic superpower, it now needs our
assistance in implementing the system of Islamic finance,” said Second
Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.
He said this in his speech while officiating the 6th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum here on Monday.
Also present was the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin.
Asked whether the collaboration would be in terms of just the
sharing of expertise or a joint venture, he said it could be one or
both.
“It depends on the rules and regulations of the Turkish banking industry,” he added.
Husni also said that he would personally send letters to both
Maybank and CIMB to inform them of Asya Bank’s collaboration interest.
He said the advent of Malaysia as the leader in Islamic finance
should be taken full advantage of by local financial institutions to
expand the business overseas.
“The best way for them to spread their wings overseas is to
establish joint ventures. In this way, the responsibility of risk can
be minimised with returns in respect of brand introduction and market
intelligence obtained.
“With the first mover advantage, Malaysian financial institutions
can capture markets which were previously not filled, by moving
overseas,” he said.
Husni highlighted that other countries such as Hong Kong, the
United Kingdom and Singapore are fast growing their Islamic Finance
sector.
“Malaysia should not lose out as we were the first to take it up,” he said.
He also stated that, Malaysia was the pioneer in starting the halal industry in the context of a modern industrial network.
“Unfortunately, this early momentum was lost and now we find our
neighbours aggressively entering the international halal market.We have
conceded the first mover advantage,” he said.
Husni said to return the momentum to Malaysia’s halal industry, the government will restructure the HDC.
— BERNAMA
