ICD, BTMU Malaysia Sign Financing Deal

KUALA LUMPUR – The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), the private sector arm of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), and Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (Malaysia) Berhad (BTMU Malaysia) have signed on Monday a financing agreement, the proceeds of which will be deployed alongside ICD proprietary capital to finance projects in its member countries.

The $100 million Commodity Murabahah agreement was signed pursuant to a previous Memorandum of Understanding agreed in Tokyo in April 2014, under which both parties agreed to form a joint strategic collaboration to tap opportunities in the constantly evolving Islamic finance industry especially in the ICD’s member countries globally.

The agreement was signed in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia by Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of the ICD; and Naoki Nishida, CEO of BTMU Malaysia.

It signifies another important milestone made by ICD and BTMU Malaysia in the international Islamic financial market industry.

The signing recognizes BTMU Malaysia’s prior achievements in Islamic finance, and demonstrates its strong commitment to further the internationalization of the industry through continued participation in ground-breaking transactions.

Notably, the agreement represents the first ever financing signed by BTMU Malaysia with a multilateral international financial institution such as the ICD.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, Al Aboodi said the agreement will strengthen and deepen the ICD’s relationship with its non-traditional partners from the Asia Pacific region such as Japan: especially to promote cross-border investment in ICD member countries and to share Islamic finance knowledge and expertise. The facility will also open up new opportunities for scaling up ICD financing in its member states.

“Japan has shown growing interest to further develop its Islamic finance industry with the signing of today’s Murabahah agreement between the ICD and BTMU Malaysia. We are delighted with this initiative and it has also cemented our view of Malaysia as the Islamic finance hub from where we can engage in new relationships with the non-traditional partners in the region,” said Al Aboodi.

He notedthat as the leading Islamic finance institution supporting private sector development across the Islamic world, the funding made through this facility marked an important chapter in the continued growth of the ICD’s global presence: and marked its firm commitment to developing and increasing its activities and financing towards the private sector and financial institutions in its member states.

“This signing marks another achievement for BTMU Malaysia in expanding our Islamic financing business.

“We are committed to work closely with ICD and support each other especially in the areas of technical assistance and potential business opportunities.

We welcome and look forward to further opportunities to collaborate with ICD in its effort to support private initiated economic development projects in its member countries,” said Nishida.

Originally published on www.zawya.com