Al Baraka Banking Group to expand business into Indonesia

Manama (ANTARA News) - The Bahrain-based leading Islamic banking group Al Baraka Banking Group (ABG) announced its plans to expand its presence in international markets by setting up a representative office in Indonesia.

The bank has recently received the necessary regulatory approvals from Bank Indonesia, the country's Central Bank in this respect.

Sheikh Saleh Kamel, Chairman of Albaraka Banking Group, told IINA that Indonesia, which has the largest Muslim population in the world, estimated at 220 million, will have vast scope for the bank.

"Indonesia has a growing commercial and economic relationship with the Arab and Islamic world, while internally it has witnessed positive economic and financial developments giving rise to an excellent investment environment," he said adding that all these factors encourage major Islamic financial institutions to open offices in Indonesia to serve the Muslim community there and contribute towards facilitating trade flow between Indonesia and the Arab world.

Sheikh Saleh Kamel noted that the successful IPO, which increased the equity of ABG Group from $566 million to about $1 billion, has enabled the Group to expand further into new international markets.

The expansion plans include a number of new markets such as Malaysia, Indonesia, India, China, certain Gulf States and Syria. On his part, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousuf, President and Chief Executive of Albaraka Banking Group, said that the ABG is firmly building up its regional and international presence according to a clear and well-thought strategic vision.

The Group is also expanding the range of the banking products and services that it offers to clients, capitalizing on increased financial resources.

Albaraka Banking Group, which is a Bahraini Joint Stock Company listed on the Bahrain and Dubai stock exchanges, is a leading international Islamic bank with a Standard & Poor's long-term rating of BBB- and a short-term rating of A-3.

ABG offers retail, corporate and investment banking and treasury services strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari'a. The authorized capital of ABG is $1.5 billion, while the total equity amounts to about $1.2 billion.

The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking Units in ten countries, which in turn provide their services through more than 216 branches.