Bahrain readies to develop Islamic finance in Singapore

Bahrain Tribune) The Kingdom would facilitate the development of Islamic financial institutional network in Singapore. "The development of Islamic banking is something we are proud of in Bahrain," said the Central Bank of Bahrain Governor, Rasheed Al Maraj yesterday.

He held talks with the visiting Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Heng Swee Keat and his accompanying delegation. The two sides discussed issues of mutual interest, particularly the development and growth of the banking and financial sectors of Bahrain and Singapore.

Areas of interest to the Singapore apex monetary agency included CBB's experience and knowledge of Islamic finance in view of its recent announcement to issue sovereign-rated sukuk to meet the needs of Islamic financial institutions there.

Al Maraj extending CBB cooperation to MAS in its efforts to develop the infrastructure for Islamic finance said Bahrain played a key role in innovating the development of Islamic banking, which is one of the fastest growing segments of its financial services industry.

More recently, with the development of a comprehensive regulatory framework for Islamic insurance (takaful), several global insurance firms have established takaful operations in Bahrain. In addition to Islamic finance, the CBB also saw good prospects for the fund management industry, trust administration business and insurance sectors.

These are all areas where we see a good potential for a homegrown industry, not just for foreign players," he said. He pointed to the long-standing cooperation between Bahrain and Singapore on several fronts, including education and training.

Singapore has been a role model for many developing countries and we look forward to strengthening our bilateral cooperation." Also present at the meeting were Dr Anwar Khalifa Al Sadah, Deputy Governor of the CBB, and other senior CBB officials.