Islamic banking is our strong point, says Nor Mohamed

HONG KONG: Malaysia views the interest in Islamic banking in China, Japan and here positively because of the country’s competitive edge in this area, Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said. 

He said Malaysia had a very good Islamic bond market and these countries could come to Malaysia to issue such bonds. 

“We can coordinate and help them with this, given our experience in this area,” he said. 

Nor Mohamed, who is here with Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on a roadshow to promote Malaysia to fund managers, said after hosting a dinner for Hong Kong-based media agencies on Thursday evening. 

He was asked to comment about Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang’s annual policy address last month where he said the territory was aiming to be an Islamic banking centre. 

Nor Mohamed said Malaysia’s competitive advantage in Islamic banking came from the fact that the system had been developed over 25 years.  

“In a competitive economy, productivity will have to come from new growth areas and Islamic banking is certainly a niche for us. 

“It is a new growth centre for us where we have a competitive edge and we have to make full use of it. Islamic banking is the key for us to go forward.” 

Nor Mohamed said besides Islamic banking, Malaysia now had a whole array of syariah-compliant products, including Islamic pawn broking.