AIFC Governor clarifies the need for Islamic finance
ASTANA. KAZINFORM - Governor of the Astana International Financial Centre Kairat Kelimbetov clarified why Kazakhstan will develop Islamic finance, Kazinform correspondent reports.
"Islamic finance is part of Islamic economics. (...) Many of these centers, in the non-Muslim-majority countries, including London, Hong Kong, Japan, Luxembourg, are very actively engaged in developing Islamic finance. It is called ‘responsible investment' there," Kairat Kelimbetov said while meeting with members of Senate committees.
He underscored that the world market of Islamic finance is estimated at $2 trillion. "This is serious money, some of which we want to attract to Kazakhstan. However, on the other hand, we have a fairly large Muslim population in the post-Soviet countries, where, we believe, many banks will keenly operate," he said.
In the meantime, Kairat Kelimbetov also revealed the AIFC stock exchange's role in the privatization campaign underway in Kazakhstan.
"The Head of State set a specific task of privatizing Samruk-Kazyna Fund's major companies. Earlier privatization or entry of our national companies into the world capital markets took place through London and other financial centers, while now we assume this should be done through Astana. Everything should begin in Astana. If we succeed in doing that as we have planned, this will boost our stock market and spark the interest of investors in Kazakhstan, the interest of our domestic investors to invest in the securities of our national companies. This is how the stock markets around the world are created," the AIFC Governor said.
In turn, Chairperson of the Finance and Budget Committee of the Senate Olga Perepechina recalled that one of the tasks outlined in the President's Address is to ‘reboot' the financial sector.
"Building a competitive international financial center is a complex task that requires considerable time and a deliberate policy pursued by the state. (...) We, the Senate members, are given the opportunity to see firsthand and learn about the prospects for its development before presentation to the international financial and investment community in July this year," she said.