QR1bn Ijara agreement to Al Aqaria lead by QNB Al Islami

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The funds will play an instrumental role in the future development of ALAQARIA projects in Qatar.

Held at QNB's headquarters in Doha, the agreement was signed by Mr. Ali Shareef Al Emadi, QNB's Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Abdul-Baset Ahmad Al Sheibei, CEO of QIIB and Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Chairman of ALAQARIA.

The Islamic financing, which has received the approval of the Shari'a Boards of both QNB Al Islami and QIIB, comes into effect on 01 January 2009.

QNB Al Islami will contribute QR700m and QIIB will contribute QR300m respectively to the finance pool.

'This is a landmark transaction that indicates the robust outlook for real estate projects in Qatar, as well as demonstrates the sophistication of the nation's Shari'a-compliant finance market. We are very pleased to be part of this facility which will help ALAQARIA reinforce the strong infrastructure for growth already in place in Qatar, and help build the foundations for innovative corporate and project finance using Islamic finance.'

Mr. Al Emadi said.

Mr. Abdul-Baset Ahmad Al Sheibei, CEO of QIIB said, 'We are pleased to be part of this partnership which will contribute to the sustainable growth recommendations made recently by H.E. the Prime Minster who encouraged further construction work and investment in large-scale projects both in infrastructure and other sectors to enhance the strength of Qatar's economy.

Mr. Al Sheibei added, 'Collaboration with a leading real estate company in Qatar is a positive step on part of QIIB to take a role in the development of Qatar's economy and an essential part of QIIB's drive forward, which is clearly reflected in the quality of the partnership launched today between QIIB, QNB Al Islami and ALAQARIYA.'

Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani, ALAQARIA Chairman, said: 'Once completed, the financing package will play an instrumental role in our next phase of growth as we forge ahead in addressing the urban needs of Qatar. We are committed to our clients in the Oil and Gas sector, and we will start new developments by end of this year and early next year with budgeted cost of approximately QR2.5bn. We are happy to be working with leading financial institutions such as QNB & QIIB for this financing, and we are always committed to the Islamic Compliant solutions.'

Qatar Real Estate Investment Company, also known as ALAQARIA, is a Qatari public shareholding company, with diversified activities in the real estate sector in the State of Qatar, and the largest real estate developer in the Industrial cities of Qatar.

ALAQARIA was established in 1995.

The Company was one of the first to be listed on the Doha Securities Exchange (DSM), the corporate is rated A2 by Moody's and BBB+ by Fitch.

ALAQARIA's total shareholders' Equity is QR2bn and total Assets is QR5bn.

ALAQARIA owns 50% of ASAS Real Estate Co., 33% of Freej Real Estate Co., 8% of Mazaya Qatar Co. and 17% of Barwa Albaraha Co.

QNB Al Islami is the first full Islamic Branch to be established by a conventional bank in Qatar and has become very active in the Islamic banking industry ever since it was established.

QNB Al Islami was previously mandated to lead the arrangement of an Islamic finance deal valued at a total of QR1.37bn for ALAQARIA, the nation's first corporate Sukuk, which was used to fund ALAQARIA's real estate projects in Doha.

QIIB, which has over 17 years experience providing Islamic finance in Qatar, has rapidly grown to become one of most successful banks in Qatar and also recorded significant growth in its fundamentals over the past year.

Both QNB and QIIB are listed on the Doha Securities Market.

QIIB has participated in financing other projects alongside QNB Al Islami in 2008, including a QR182.5m Islamic facility for the Sudanese Telecommunications Company, Sudatel, on which the two banks partnered with Al Salam Bank.