Malaysia Treats Islamic Finance Investors Like Kings

Foreign investors will be treated like "kings" if they want to invest in the growing Islamic financial banking and services in Malaysia, the country's top government bank official said.

Foreign investors will be treated like "kings" if they want to invest in the growing Islamic financial banking and services in Malaysia, the country's top government bank official said. "We will be treating you like a king," said Bank Negara Deputy Governor Datuk Mohd Razif Abd Kadir at a dialogue on May 6, 2009 to showcase Malaysia's efforts in making the country as a premier international Islamic financial centre. The over 200 people in the dialogue are participants who will be attending the 6th Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Summit beginning in Singapore on May 7, 2009. Mohd Razif said Malaysia was the right place for business players who were serious in wanting to engage in Islamic finance and business. He said the country had developed a comprehensive Islamic financial system to the extent that it could compete side by side with the conventional banking system which had long been entrenched. Foreign investors should also not be scared of the religious aspects of the Islamic financial revolution "because we are not trying to transform the conventional banks into Islamic banks", he added. Mohd Razif said Malaysia offered a conducive and cost-efficient platform for investors to come to Malaysia and to conduct international and domestic Islamic finance business. Apart from Malaysia being business-friendly and forward looking plus a supportive government, he said there were a lot of opportunities for Islamic finance and product innovations in the country. The Deputy Governor said it was not easy to establish a country into an international Islamic financial centre as it needed experience and the right ambience or environment to create such a hub. He said Syariah-compliance alone was not adequate as the banking industry was a competitive one, and which needed its players to be innovative or their Islamic bank clients would run away as they were not getting their fair share. Thus, Mohd Razif said it was important for the Islamic finance players to come up with products that could compete with their professional counterparts. He also said Malaysia was not restrictive in its approach to Islamic finance as it did not dictate how it should be run but let the market decide instead. Mohd Razif said Malaysia would like to share its experience in Islamic finance with others, and invite them to the country and together they could drive Islamic finance to be one of the significant players in the international mainstream business.