IslamicFinance.de

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ has provided an Islamic syndicated loan to the Malaysian affiliate of Saudi Telecom. The ringgit-based loan amount is about 41.7 billion yen ($353 million). BTMU is the first Japanese bank to act as an agent bank for a syndicated loan in Malaysia. The loan will be provided with HSBC and Standard Chartered Bank of the U.K. Japanese banks in Malaysia mostly provide loans to Japanese companies operating in the country. Now, BTMU aims to expand operations in the country through Islamic finance. BTMU has extended foreign-currency Islamic loans in Malaysia since 2008 and ringgit-based Islamic loans since 2014. The ratio of Islamic finance to total loans in Malaysia rose to about 30% at the end of 2017, from 17% at the end of 2009.

Saudi Telecom Company (STC) has decided to form a $500 million venture capital fund to develop digital innovation in the region. During a news conference in Riyadh, STC CEO Khaled Biyari said the huge growth of e-commerce in Saudi Arabia represents an additional value to the expected success of the new fund. He stressed that Saudi Arabia has ambitious youths who have entered the field of e-commerce and the digital sector and achieved success. STC Ventures CEO Abdulrahman Tarabzouni said that the first investments of the new fund will be launched in the first quarter of 2017.