Hong Kong must provide a clear direction for how it wants to develop its Islamic finance sector before Malaysia can provide the expertise needed to tap into the Middle East market, the country’s envoy to the financial centre has said.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Consul General Muzambli Markam also said Hong Kong had a lot of potential to turn itself into a Muslim-friendly market but that more effort was needed to accommodate Middle Eastern consumer behaviour.
We are ready to provide our services to our Hong Kong friends to move forward with Islamic financing and Islamic banking but we need a clear direction of the policy is headed, Markam said.
There’s no point in pushing [if] there is no interest in Hong Kong, he said. Islamic finance, also known as sharia-compliant finance, is a system that operates in accordance with Islamic law and principles, which promote ethical and socially responsible financial practices.
The Hong Kong government has shown increased interest in tapping into this growing asset pool, which Standard Chartered has estimated to grow to US$4.94 trillion by 2025.
Last year, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po and Hong Kong Monetary Authority CEO Eddie Yue Wai-man led separate delegations to various Middle East countries to attract investments and forge closer ties.
In May, a delegation from HKMA met representatives from Bank Negara Malaysia, the country’s central bank, in Kuala Lumpur to discuss a raft of strategic areas including Islamic finance.
Markam said that previous attempts by Hong Kong to tap into the Islamic finance market had faltered due to a lack of interest, highlighting the city’s issuance of US$3 billion in Islamic bonds, also known as sukuk, between 2014 and 2017.
