Dubai-Based Noor Islamic Bank Mulls Expanding To Malaysia

An exclusive by Noor Soraya Mohd Jamal KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- Dubai-based Noor Islamic Bank is considering expanding to Malaysia to tap opportunities in Southeast Asia. Chief Executive Officer Hussain AlQemzi said the bank was currently exploring the market and establishing contacts in Malaysia. "It's also an opportunity for the Southeast Asia region, through Malaysia to be linked with the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries," he told BERNAMA. The GCC member states are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait. "We want to create a channel to reach out to banking groups here to build our network," he said. Noor Islamic Bank is the only bank from the GCC to have Shariah scholars from Malaysia. AlQemzi said the GCC and Southeast Asia region are two large Islamic hubs but the transactions between them are very low. "We share experiences but there are not many transactions between the two. This is what doesn't make sense to us," he said. AlQemzi singled out infrastructure development, tourism, food and beverages as among areas with tremendous growth potential in the two regions. "We see some banks from GCC countries have come to this region. We've some minor dealings (with them). The (economic and financial) fundamentals are there, the missing link is the network. We need to establish strong network to link up regional banks," he said. Established in 2008, Noor Islamic Bank is part of the Noor Investment Group and has operations in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah in the UAE, with representative offices in Tunisia and Turkey. -- BERNAMA