Al Hilal Bank to establish the first Islamic bank in Kazakhstan

The agreement was signed in Abu Dhabi by a high powered delegation of Kazakhstan led by H.E. Ruslan Dalinov, Deputy Minister - Ministry of Finance from the Government of Kazakhstan and H.E. Ahmed Ateeq Al Mazrouei, Chairman of Al Hilal Bank.

The agreement marks Al Hilal Bank's first international expansion initiative. Al Hilal bank will be responsible for setting up and managing the operations of the new bank, focusing on corporate and personal banking and offering Islamic finance solutions for small and medium enterprises.

Commenting on the occasion, H.E. Ahmed Ateeq Al Mazrouei, Chairman of Al Hilal Bank said

"We are honored to be invited by the Government of the Kazakhstan to establish the first Islamic bank in the country while building on the excellent relationship between the two governments. Our unique business model is based on customer centricity, it proved successful in the UAE, and we are aiming to leverage it in Kazak market and are confident that this move will further pave the way for the development of the country's Islamic financial sector."

Launched in June 2008, Al-Hilal Bank prides itself in taking a progressive approach to providing its customers with accessible Shariah-compliant banking solutions. It has been a major player in a number of strategic partnerships since its launch.

With a population of close to 16m, Kazakhstan possesses enormous fossil fuel reserves and plentiful supplies of other minerals and metals. It also has a large agricultural sector featuring livestock and grain. Kazakhstan's industrial sector rests on the extraction and processing of these natural resources.

The GDP of Kazakhstan is around $184.3bn.