The Islamic financial system is expected to vastly spread after the world economy recovers from the current economic crisis, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said Wednesday.
MAS Managing Director Heng Swee Kiat said in an interview with Singapore's "Business Times" newspaper that most Aisan countries had great experiences in Islamic financial services, an industry with the value of about USD one trillion.
He said that it was important to attract funds from the Middle East, adding that Middle East funds relay on the Islamic financial system that proved its ability to mobilize savings and deploy them productively.
Malaysia began easing procedures of giving foreign Islamic banks licenses to operate in the country, Hong Kong announced last February that it will amend tax laws to promote the Islamic financial sector, while Korea said it aimed to establish branches of Islamic banks in its major cities, he noted.
He said that since 2005, Singapore took several steps to develop Islamic finance, adding that MAS refined banking regulations and defined a tax framework to facilitate the growth of Islamic finance.
He pointed out that Singapore's first Islamic bank, the Islamic Bank of Asia (IB Asia), was established in 2007 in cooperation with 33 investors from the Middle East.
Eleven Middle East banks and two Middle East insurance companies are operating in Singapore, he said.
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