Standard Chartered ‘Saadiq’ Launches $100 million To Support Islamic Finance Companies

Standard Chartered ‘Saadiq’ announced, in collaboration with the Malaysian Halal Development Corporation, the launch of a $100 million Islamic financial programme dedicated to supporting SMEs, Corporates and Multi-nationals across Asia, the Middle East and Africa with a focus on some of the key halal markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Pakistan. 

The programme, which was announced during the Halal Week taking place at the UAE Expo, is part of Standard Chartered’s Halal360 proposition and aims at expanding the Halal eco-system across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.

Khurram Hilal, Chief Executive Officer of Islamic Banking and Head of Group Islamic Product at Standard Chartered, said: “The Halal economy is projected to witness exponential growth and as a leading player in Islamic Banking, we are honoured to be supporting Halal businesses across our global footprint. We are leveraging our network in high growth markets to help businesses succeed by offering them innovative financial solutions; thereby, contributing to the overall growth of the Halal trade -ecosystem.”

Hairol Ariffein Sahari, Chief Executive Officer of HDC quoted: “This is indeed an excellent opportunity for HDC to facilitate one of the most vital needs of the Halal companies including Multi-Nationals (MNCs), Corporates and Small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and that is halal funding. The funding will ease Malaysian companies to penetrate the Middle East, Asia and other global markets, self-reliance and be more competitive domestically with the ultimate goal to become Halal Malaysia Champions,”

Halal Development Corporation Berhad (HDC) spearheads the development of Malaysia’s integrated and comprehensive halal ecosystem and infrastructure to position Malaysia as the most competitive country leading the global halal industry. Established on 18 September 2006, HDC is also known as the central coordinator that promotes participation and facilitates the growth of industry players in the development of Malaysia’s Halal ecosystem. An agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI); it is the world’s first Government-backed halal industry development corporation

Standard Chartered Saadiq is the only international Islamic banking network with a presence spanning across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Standard Chartered ‘Saadiq’ was named ‘Best Islamic Supply Chain Bank’ at the Asset AAA Islamic Finance awards 2021 and offers a range of Trade Finance and Liquidity Management solutions which Halal companies can tap onto to grow their business and footprint.