KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will continue to play a prominent role in Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group's ongoing effort to economically empower its 57 member countries.
Khaled Al Aboodi, chief executive officer of the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), which is the private sector arm of the IsDB, said that there are multiple reasons for this continuation.
"Malaysia's position within Southeast Asia allows it to be a most ideal gateway for us to do business in this part of the world. In fact, all our business transactions with China was done though our regional office in Kuala Lumpur," he said here, yesterday.
"Malaysia's existing good relationship with the rest of the Asean countries, on top its sound financial regulatory landscape as well as being the premier player of global Islamic finance also makes it a very important partner to us."
Khaled had earlier, alongside Mizuho Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (Mizuho Malaysia)'s deputy chief executive officer, Shinichi Nishiyama, signed a US$300 million Murabahah credit facility agreement.
"ICD currently has an authorised capital of US$4 billion, and every year we allocated some US$1 billion in our project funding endeavours across our member countries," said Khaled.
"This US$300 million financing which will deployed, represents some 25 per cent of that," he said, without divulging in the specific projects or countries the fund will be allocated towards.
Khaled also stressed that his firm is eager to work with any Malaysian firms looking to venture out of the country, especially into the Middle East and Africa (MENA) regions.
Meanwhile, Nishiyama said that this cross-border bilateral Murabahah agreement is a milestone for his bank as it seeks to enlarge its Islamic banking portfolio.
"This Murabahah agreement is the first cross-border bilateral Islamic facility from Mizuho Malaysia," he said while noting that there are more deals in the pipeline this year.
"This will help us further strengthen our capacity to develop more Shariah compliant offerings."
ICD financing projects are selected on the basis of their contribution to economic development considering factors such as job creation, Islamic finance development, contribution to exports etc.