Firms urged to issue sukuk
Thursday, July 12, 2007
BRUNEI Darussalam firms and institutions are encouraged to issue Islamic bonds as a way to raise capital to grow their business.
This was highlighted yesterday in a seminar entitled "Sukuk and Islamic Capital Markets" organised by PetroleumBRUNEI together with CIMB Investment Bank Berhad.
Developing an active and vibrant sukuk or Islamic bond market is key to Brunei's thrust of strengthening its financial sector given its bid to become a global financial centre.
With the government's issuances of short-term Sukuk Al-Ijarah totalling $800 million to date and Brunei LNG Sendirian Bhd's sukuk in 2006, it is hoped that more firms and institutions will be following suit in issuing their own Islamic bonds as an alternative source of financing, said PetroleumBRUNEI and CIMB in a press statement.
Yesterday's seminar, facilitated by Dayang Rosalinda Bte Ahmad, Senior Manager of CIMB in Malaysia, was aimed to create awareness of the potential of sukuk as a viable mechanism in raising capital to finance business operations.
In an opening speech Mohd Ja'afar Bakar encouraged Brunei's oil and gas industry players to scrutinise other forms of financial structures to finance business ventures. He also emphasised the significance of understanding the associated risks and funding strategy needed to mitigate them.
Raising funds through a sukuk issuance can help overcome growth challenges in mobilising resources and funding projects. It also lessens firms and institutions dependence on bank loans and is generally a cheaper method of sourcing funds compared to bank loans.
PetroleumBRUNEI is the sultanate's national oil firm, while CIMB is the largest manager of sukuk in the world with about 21 per cent of global market share of sukuk issued to date.
The Brunei Times
This was highlighted yesterday in a seminar entitled "Sukuk and Islamic Capital Markets" organised by PetroleumBRUNEI together with CIMB Investment Bank Berhad.
Developing an active and vibrant sukuk or Islamic bond market is key to Brunei's thrust of strengthening its financial sector given its bid to become a global financial centre.
With the government's issuances of short-term Sukuk Al-Ijarah totalling $800 million to date and Brunei LNG Sendirian Bhd's sukuk in 2006, it is hoped that more firms and institutions will be following suit in issuing their own Islamic bonds as an alternative source of financing, said PetroleumBRUNEI and CIMB in a press statement.
Yesterday's seminar, facilitated by Dayang Rosalinda Bte Ahmad, Senior Manager of CIMB in Malaysia, was aimed to create awareness of the potential of sukuk as a viable mechanism in raising capital to finance business operations.
In an opening speech Mohd Ja'afar Bakar encouraged Brunei's oil and gas industry players to scrutinise other forms of financial structures to finance business ventures. He also emphasised the significance of understanding the associated risks and funding strategy needed to mitigate them.
Raising funds through a sukuk issuance can help overcome growth challenges in mobilising resources and funding projects. It also lessens firms and institutions dependence on bank loans and is generally a cheaper method of sourcing funds compared to bank loans.
PetroleumBRUNEI is the sultanate's national oil firm, while CIMB is the largest manager of sukuk in the world with about 21 per cent of global market share of sukuk issued to date.
The Brunei Times
Business Besides Oil
