São Paulo – On August 27th, the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce promotes the workshop The Islamic Financial Market, to be presented by Ângela Martins, regional manager for Latin America of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD). The event will be held in the city of São Paulo and it’s only for members of the Chamber.
“I will present a general view of what Islamic finances are, what the products are and also talk about how exporters can make use of this industry”, sums up Martins. Currently, the market of Islamic finances manages US$ 1.2 trillion, and should reach US$ 2.6 trillion in 2017. According to the executive, this market “has been growing a lot in the Gulf and in the Asian countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia.”
Among the Arab countries, the most prominent ones in the Islamic finance market, according to Martins, are Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Algeria. There are, still, other nations that are developing in this area. “In the last few years, a country that grew substantially [in Islamic finance] is Kuwait. Ten years ago, it didn’t even have an Islamic bank and, today, it has several relevant ones”, she says.
Martins says that “in general, the interest for Islamic finances has been increasing a lot”, pointing out the Non-Muslim countries, such as the United Kingdom, in which there is a large flow of Islamic finances operations. According to her, the British legislation already adapted itself to deal with these types of transactions.
In Brazil, Martins says that there are two segments that could benefit from the Islamic finances market, foreign trade and investments. “If you look to the Brazilian foreign trade with Islamic countries you will see that part of this flow could be financed by Islamic structures. Exports to Islamic countries could be financed according to the sharia’s [Islamic law] rules”, she points out.
In the area of funding, she mentions agriculture, food and the real estate as potential sectors for Islamic operations. According to the NBAD’s manager, some Islamic operations already could be done in Brazil without changes in legislation, while others would need modifications in the country’s laws to be implemented.
Service
The Islamic Financial Market Workshop
With Ângela Martins
August, 27th, 8:30 AM
Place: Hotel Renaissance
Alameda Santos, 2233 – São Paulo
Admission free and only for members of the Arab Chamber
Registration by phone at 11 3147-4115 or via email at emattar@ccab.org.br (with Edson Mattar)
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
