www.menafn.com -(MENAFN - Arab Times) On March 31, 1989, KFH-Turkey began officially working in Istanbul as the first Islamic bank in Turkey.
The
bank was a result of the collaboration between relentless employees
from Kuwait and Turkey, who believed in establishing an Islamic bank
that depends of Kuwait's experience in this field and Turkey's promising
economy. This led to a bank that is a source of pride for Kuwait and
the GCC.
On that date, while KFH-Turkey was celebrating this
historic day with its shareholders and administration, the late Ahmed
Al-Yasseen, the godfather of Islamic banking who was the bank's first
chairman, said that the Islamic world has abundant wealth that is
unused, such as natural resources, industrial potential, and skillful
laborers, but imports from other countries what it can produce itself. (source)
He
added that this is the reason behind establishing several institutions
that work synergistically to end importation, including KFH-Turkey that
has diverse economy abilities; thus allowing the bank to link Arab
investors to those abilities.
KFH-Turkey began working in challenging circumstances, because Turkey did not have at that time its current booming economy.
However,
the clear vision of KFH-Turkey's men and their noble cause, not to
mention feasibility studies, allowed the bank to take great strides to
success, under the umbrella of Shariah.
This gave the bank the advantage of being the first to set foot in the Turkish market; thus cementing its position there.
It
is beyond doubt that the existence of KFH-Turkey and its
accomplishments go beyond the mere concept of a bank that offers
services.
The bank serves as a bridge between Turkey and the GCC
countries, since trading strengthens the relationship among nations,
and proves that Islamic banking can succeed and prove its mettle in all
markets under any circumstances.
It is worth noting that
KFH-Turkey was the first bank to issue Sukuk worth $450 million over two
consecutive deals, not to mention the gold fund and gold investment
account.
The gold fund was registered in Istanbul Bourse, which encouraged the bank to launch a silver fund that traded silver.
Recently,
KFH-Turkey announced that it will offer Kuwaitis in Turkey a bouquet of
banking and financing services during their visit to Turkey.
Such as success was a result of the banking atmosphere in Turkey, not to mention Turkey's rapid growth and stability.
This
was recognized by international rating agencies that granted the bank
several awards, such as Best Islamic Bank from Global Finance, and three
other awards from Islamic Finance after managing to issue Sukuk in
Turkey, in addition to awards from Euro Money.
Source: http://www.menafn.com/menafn/1093534714/23-years-of-successful-leadership-of-Kuwaiti-private-sector-Turkey&ct=ga&cad=CAcQAhgAIAAoATAAOABA1KOPgAVIAVgBYgVlbi1JRA&cd=RLQmwxCZp3o&usg=AFQjCNFs0j5uU-akzoFzK5aLuKuyKrFwhw - July 15, 2012
