IslamicFinance.de

SOUTH Korea is keen to foster further cooperation with Malaysia to beef up its Islamic finance and services sector that is at its infancy stage.
Korea Investment and Securities head of Islamic finance Yul-Hee Lee said there has been many enquiries made by Korean companies on how it can raise funds using the sukuk.
Lee noted that the South Korean government is in the midst of fine-tuning laws on Islamic finance and introducing tax incentives but development is still at its early stage and will take time to be ready.
The South Korean government announced an Islamic financing tax regime for sukuk as early as August 2009.
South Korean firms have been using Islamic finance products for a couple of decades, but only in relation to their business activities in the Middle East.
Post-global economic crisis, Lee said the country is considering other options and diversifying its investments. Part of its plan is to tap into the Islamic finance market.