ICD and Zaman Bank in strategic alliance

The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) has announced its moves in the Islamic banking sector of Kazakhstan with a mandate of converting a regional and leading regional Bank into an Islamic bank with expected investment of up to 35 percent of the subscribed and paid up capital of the bank.
Accordingly, it will become second Islamic bank in the country.
Khaled Al-Aboodi, CEO of ICD, said the strategic initiative reflects ICD’s continuous effort to play a catalyst role in the promotion of Islamic finance and private sector development in Kazakhstan.
Earlier, ICD, together with a diverse group of International and local investors including owners of Zaman Group established the first Islamic Leasing (Ijara) Company in Kazakhstan with authorized capital of $ 36 million.
In addition, ICD extended $ 20 million for the real estate development project and committed $ 40 million lines of financing facility for the SME sector in the country.
Alan Abguzhinov, managing director of Zaman Group, said the strategic move is expected to bring significant alignment to support the government’s 2020 vision to make Almaty a major hub of Islamic finance in the region.
ICD is a multilateral organization and a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) Group.
Zaman Bank was established in 1991 with its headquarters located in Ekibastuz.
At present, the capital of the bank stands at $ 60 million with total assets base of $ 120 million.