ABCK holds its 2nd General Meeting – Al-Ateeqi sheds light on Islamic banking sector

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Photo from the event
Photo from the event

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 23: The American Business Council of Kuwait (ABCK) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and development of American business and American business interests in the State of Kuwait. This was revealed by the Chairperson, Dr Juliet Dinkha during the council’s second General Meeting held on 18th of October 2016. ABCK members and guests from a wide spectrum of the Kuwait and US business sector attended the event which was held at Crown Plaza Hotel, Farwaniya.

In her opening remarks, ABCK’s chairperson, Dr. Juliet Dinkha thanked the members for the support they have accorded her since she took over as chairperson and explained that under her stewardship, ABCK will continue to work tirelessly in promoting American business interests in Kuwait. “Events such as the upcoming Annual Thanksgiving Dinner to be held on Tuesday, 15th of November 2016 at the US Embassy are part of ABCK’s goal to provide Kuwait and US business people with an opportunity to network,” Dr Dinkha told the members.

In his keynote address, the guest of honor Saleh Al-Ateeqi expounded on the worldwide growth of the Islamic banking sector. Al-Atteeqi who is the current CEO of Boubyan Capital the investment management arm of Boubyan Bank which is part of the National Bank of Kuwait Group stated that the Islamic banking assets have been growing rapidly over the past few years and are expected to exceed USD 1.8 trillion by 2020. “The majority of this growth was driven by banks from the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which account for 74% of Islamic banking assets worldwide,” he told the ABCK members.

Al-Ateeqi singled out the global sukuk market as one of fastest growing areas of the Islamic banking sector. Sukuk are financial certificates commonly known as Sharia compliant bonds. “From a relatively modest USD 14 billion in 2005, the volume of new sukuk issuances reached USD 60 billion in 2015”, he explained adding that he expected the growth of sukuk market to continue as Islamic banking expands into new markets worldwide.

In his closing remarks, the CEO of Boubyan Capital expressed his gratitude to ABCK and commended the organization’s effort in bringing together business people from the two countries to network and learn from each other.

Thanking him for a highly informative address, Dr Dinkha presented him with a certificate as a token of ABCK’s appreciation.

The meeting concluded with a raffle where winners scooped a lunch/dinner for two at Crown Plaza Hotel, Al-Ahmadi and lunch/dinner for two at Millennium Hotel, Salmiya.

 

This news has been read 5619 times!

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