Muslim bankers and regulators announced plans Wednesday to set up a global Islamic bank
by next year that could rival Western lenders and to chart a 10-year blueprint to bolster growth in the Islamic financial sector.
The Bahrain-based Albaraka Banking Group will take up a 10 percent stake in the US$1 billion bank to be known as the Emaar International Group, said Saleh A.Kamal, chairman of the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, which proposed the project.
Other key shareholders are the Islamic Development Bank, which is the financial arm of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference, and Malaysia's Islamic Bank, Kamal said.
"We hope by early next year, it will be operational," he told some 400 officials and regulators at a forum in Malaysia to map out a blueprint for the Islamic financial sector.
The Islamic Financial Services Board Secretary General, Rifaat Ahmad Abdel Karim told the Associated Press that a 10-year Islamic financial services master plan for OIC nations is expected to be completed by the end of the year and distributed to various regulatory bodies.
