Mubasher: Qatar is planning to collaborate with both Malaysia and Turkey to get over the blockade by diversifying its economy, the CEO of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC).
“We have a vision to cover the entire globe’s Islamic financial transactions between three financial centres: Doha, Istanbul and Malaysia,” Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida commented.
The move aims to serve the $2 trillion global Islamic finance market from hubs in the three countries using common platforms and technology, Nikkei Asian Review reported.
“This requires international platforms and technology which we believe Qatar Financial Centre has,” the CEO added.
Under the deal, Turkey would cover Islamic finance needs in Europe, while Qatar will serve the Middle East and Malaysia would sell to Asian countries.
Relations between the three countries became very close at the current time, especially after the Arab rift with the gas-rich nation.
Since 5 June 2017, Qatar has been facing outflows of foreign customers' deposits after four Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia cut their diplomatic and trade ties with the gas-rich state, accusing Qatar of financing terrorism. Doha forcefully denies the charges.
“We share similar visions, we share similar progressive outlooks... so there’s a lot to be achieved between these three countries,” Al-Jaida pointed out.
It is worth noting that Malaysia is already one of the world's biggest issuers of sukuk, or sharia-compliant bonds, with 34% of the global market in the full-year 2017.
Currently, the London Stock Exchange (LSE) is a global venue for the issuance of sukuk.
