OREANDA-NEWS. In intention to tie up for the development of Islamic financing, JSC Bank TuranAlem and Emirates Bank Group have signed a Memorandum on Mutual Cooperation.

Having assessed the interest of Central Asian private businesses in application of Islamic financing models as well as increased focus of Islamic financial institutions on the region, the parties have determined common trends of bilateral partnership in the Memorandum.

The partnership includes namely promotion of Islamic banking and financial products in the Kazakhstan and CIS markets.

Should the cooperation will be a success, the parties will consider the possibility of opening a joint financial institution specializing on Islamic banking in the region.

This Memorandum was signed between JSC Bank TuranAlem and Emirates Bank Group on the eve of the international conference "Islamic Banking and Finance in Kazakhstan" held on May 7-8, in Almaty.

"Bank TuranAlem was always notable for its use of advanced high-tech innovations and the best international practices. Taking into account the growth of Islamic banking popularity in the world, not only in Islamic countries, we could hardly ignore such sphere. Having started studying potential interest in this sector inside the republic and from Islamic institutions, we have practically at the first onset found a reliable partner - Emirates Bank Group. I believe that this project will be of great demand not only in Kazakhstan but in the neighbored countries too," - stated the Chairman of the Board of JSC Bank TuranAlem Roman Solodchenko.

General Manager of Emirates Islamic Bank (division of Emirates Bank Group) Abdolla Shoviter, in its turn, underlined that "Emirates Bank Group regards the CIS countries and especially Kazakhstan as a rather promising and prospective region which may play a significant role in the strategy related to extension of our Group business. We are pleased that our partner in studying the potential of Islamic Banking is one of the leading banks of Kazakhstan - Bank TuranAlem. We are sure that this partnership will be mutually beneficial and expect positive outcome from our project."

JSC "Bank TuranAlem" (BTA) is the core of the financial group existing in all segments of the financial market. The network of the banks which are BTA strategic partners is spread over Ukraine, 4 regions of Russia, Byelorussia, Georgia and Armenia. Representative offices are operating in Russia, Byelorussia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and United Arab Emirates. The assets of the BTA group as at April 6, 2007 comprised $17 bln, aggregate shareholders’ equity $2,2 bln. Consolidation of the aggregate assets is planned for 2007 with increase up to $50 bln by 2015.

Emirates Bank Group which is to celebrate 30th anniversary this year is one of the leading financial conglomerates in the United Arab Emirates with Head Office in Dubai. Emirates Bank Group is the first bank in the UAE to open subsidiary in Saudi Arabia. The group owns 10% share in the Bank of Beirut and is a strategic shareholder of Al Barak Banking Group. The Bank also has office in London and repo offices in India, Iran and Singapore. The conglomerate specializes in providing services mostly related to universal, investing and retail banking. The merge of Emirates Bank and the National Bank of Dubai is planned in the nearest future with the aim to establish the largest financial institute in the region. Such decision was taken in accordance with the development strategy of Dubai till 2015. Two financial institutions are intended to apply all their experience to establish the financial institute which will provide a wide range of banking services for natural persons and institutional investors both in domestic and international markets.