IslamicFinance.de

It seems that the Islamic finance industry is curious in tapping Middle Eastern oil money to help fund Thai infrastructure projects, which could help it win a foothold in a market with only a small Muslim population.
During this week Malaysia issued a $2 billion sukuk, almost 30 % of which was consumed by Middle Eastern investors.
Infrastructure investment is expected to have a great start in Thailand as well as other Southeast Asian countries.

The Governor of Bank of Thailand (BoT), Prasarn Trairatvorakul, suggested to the government to consider categorising credit card debtors for refinancing by state-owned banks with caution to prevent a rise in problem debts.
But the problem is that Thailand's banks must have efficient tools to monitor and categorise credit card debtors. Otherwise, it might lead to an increase in non-performing loans.

State-owned Islamic Bank of Thailand expects to finalise details of its long-delayed Islamic bond in the second quarter.
The planned sale of Islamic bonds worth 5 billion baht ($164 million) has been repeatedly delayed, pending regulations governing the issue of sukuk in Thailand.

Asean member countries must have a minister to promote and champion the grouping’s causes within each country as the region moves towards integration by 2015, CIMB group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Tun Razak said