AIFC, CFC agree to develop Green and Islamic financing

The document was signed by the Governor of the Astana International Financial Center, Kairat Kelimbetov, and the CEO of Casablanca Finance City Authority, Said Ibrahimi.

According to the Memorandum, AIFC and Casablanca Finance City Authority intend to cooperate in the sphere of the capital market, asset management, Islamic financing, green financing, financial technologies and human capital development.

Governor Kelimbetov also participated in the International Meeting of Financial Centres for Sustainability, which consolidated representatives of the financial sector from the entire world. Among them, there were the leaders of International financial centres from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, including, the Green Finance Organisation of Japan, the Management Company of the Green Fund of Japan, the Financial Initiative of the United Nations Program on the environment, the UN Initiative for Sustainable Exchanges (SSE) and others.



Special attention during the event was paid to the development of green financing. "Kazakhstan always paid attention to global environmental issues. We were among the first countries to sign the Kyoto Protocol and ratify the Paris Agreement. Green projects cost a lot of money, nevertheless, they are and should be compatible. The Astana International Financial Centre as a new driver of economic and financial growth not only for Kazakhstan but for Central Asia as well, is already working in this direction and defined green financing as one of its main strategic directions", said Kelimbetov.

The AIFC Governor also informed the participants of the conference about the activities of the AIFC, its core directions of development and advantages for investors.

As a result of the event, the "Declaration of Financial Centers for Sustainability" was signed.  The parties agreed to take strategic actions to promote green financing in International financial centers, exchange knowledge in this area and cooperate to expand the range of green assets and products.

In addition, the Declaration officially launched the International Network of Financial Centers for Sustainability. The first meeting of participants is planned in Italy in early 2018. The next meeting in 2019 was proposed to be held with the assistance of the AIFC in Kazakhstan.

Note: In December 2015, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the Constitutional Statute "On the Astana International Financial Centre" (AIFC). The aim of the AIFC is to establish a leading international centre of financial services. For the first time in the post-Soviet region, a British common law framework will be introduced in the AIFC. English will be the official language of the AIFC. The objectives of the AIFC are to attract investment into the economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan through the establishment of an attractive environment for investment in financial services, to develop local capital markets, ensuring their integration with the international capital markets, and develop markets for insurance and banking services and for Islamic financing in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Casablanca Finance City Authority is an economic and financial hub aspiring to become a bridging platform between the north and the south. It seeks to attract and encourage international institutions and investors to invest and operate in North, West and Central Africa and to choose Casablanca as a gateway to access this region. CFC intends to build an all-encompassing ecosystem evolving around three business categories: financial companies, professional services providers and regional or international headquarters of multinationals.