December 3, 2009, Almaty (10th Floor, RFCA Business Center, 136 Dostyk Ave.)

The Islamic Finance Development Prospects in the Republic of Kazakhstan forum-seminar was held today in Almaty. The forum organizers are JSC Regional Financial Center of Almaty (JSC RFCA).

JSC RFCA conducted the Islamic forum-seminar with the purpose to familiarize the public with specific features of Islamic finance. More than 50 representatives of business circles, financial and insurance organizations of Kazakhstan, and mass media took part in the forum-seminar.

The passing of the relevant law in February of 2009 made the Islamic finance instruments accessible to Kazakhstani business and financial organizations. The forum-seminar participants were provided information as to the possibilities of projects financing and forms of cooperation, legal aspects of the organization of Islamic securities issue and listing on the stock market, and the peculiarities of Islamic insurance (takaful).

Speakers at the forum-seminar were representatives of the first commercial Islamic bank, Al Hilal Bank, in the Republic of Kazakhstan, leading experts in the area of Islamic finance, and the developers of amendments to the law on Islamic finance.

The Regional Financial Center of Almaty is an active initiator of the introduction of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan.

“It is expected that Islamic finance introduction in Kazakhstan will stimulate the activities of enterprises through raising of capital and the attraction of the world’s large participants of the Islamic financial industry to finance investment and large infrastructure projects”, - RFCA Islamic Instruments Development Department Chief Aibek Bekzhanov said in his speech.

Additional Info:

Joint Stock Company Regional Financial Centre of Almaty was set up in 2007 with the purpose of setting up and the successful operation of the financial center, attractive to all participants in both the domestic market and the world community.
The goals of RFCA are:
• Institutional development of the financial center, meeting international standards and adding to the attraction of foreign participants
• Attraction of new issuers and professional participants in the person of organizations, carrying out brokerage and dealer’s activity, and institutional investors to cooperate with the financial center
• Involvement of the domestic savings of the population into securities and other financial instruments through the stock market
• Development and introduction of new financial instruments and stock market techniques
• Participation in the Program of Increasing the Population’s Awareness in Investment and Financial Issues in the Republic of Kazakhstan.