Posted by meb at June 6th, 2008

Qatar Islamic Bank (QIB) has launched talks with a bank in Turkey over entering the Turkish market, QIB’s CEO has stated.

CEO Salah al-Jaidah told the Financial Times that QIB is now looking to acquire an institution in Turkey in an effort to take advantage of opportunities for growth there and across Central Asia, while also considering Egypt as a base for North Africa. The bank has already signed a memorandum of understanding for a new bank in Kazakhstan. “After being outbid for Türkiye Finans by Saudi Arabia’s National Commercial Bank, QIB has started initial discussions with another operator to set up in Turkey, using a local name to expand into retail while cross-selling investment products from Turkey into the Gulf and vice versa,” the Financial Times noted. Jaidah told the journal that he sees Turkey as a well-regulated market providing a bridge between Europe and the underdeveloped banking market of Central Asia. QIB, which has a 50 percent share of the small but growing Qatari Islamic banking market, is approaching things from this perspective as it expands abroad, growing from its Doha base into different markets with different client bases, noted Jaidah. The 25-year-old bank has set up two hubs, the Europe Finance House in the UK and the Asian Finance Bank in Malaysia, to act as beachheads in these regions.
source: Today’s Zaman