Standard Chartered’s international Islamic banking network Saadiq has launched a $100 million Islamic financial programme along with the Malaysian Halal Development Corporation to support small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) in Asia, Middle East and Africa, according to media reports. It will focus on some key halal markets in the world like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
The announcement was made during the Halal Week taking place at the UAE Expo and it is also a part of the banking giant’s Halal360 proposition that has a primary focus of expanding the Halal ecosystem across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
Khurram Hilal, Chief Executive Officer of Islamic Banking and Head of Group Islamic Product at Standard Chartered told the media, “The Halal economy is projected to witness exponential growth and as a leading player in Islamic Banking, we are honoured to be supporting Halal businesses across our global footprint. We are leveraging our network in high growth markets to help businesses succeed by offering them innovative financial solutions; thereby, contributing to the overall growth of the Halal trade -ecosystem.”
The primary aim of Halal finance is the syncing of the core principles of the Islamic finance along with the primary tenets of Islamic law in this regard. Halal Development Berhad (HDC) leads the development of Malaysia’s integrated and comprehensive halal ecosystem and infrastructure and it is working towards making Malaysia as the most competitive country leading the global halal industry.