Britain keen to boost Islamic finance in Malaysia

Tuesday June 10, 2008
Najib: Britain keen to boost Islamic finance in Malaysia
By CHOI TUCK WO


LONDON: Britain is keen to further expand its Islamic finance activities in Malaysia, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman David Lewis, expressed interest in greater collaboration with Malaysia, which has experience in Islamic finance and banking.

“A British financial institution has opened a branch on Takaful insurance in Labuan while Barclays Bank has also applied to expand their activities in Malaysia,” he told Malaysian journalists after meeting the lord mayor yesterday.

Najib, who arrived on Sunday to attend the Commonwealth mini summit on reforms of global institutions, hoped that Malaysia would become a major investment centre for Britons.


Warm welcome: Najib shaking hands with Lewis upon his arrival at the Mansion House in London yesterday, as the High Commissioner of Malaysia to Britain Datuk Abdul Aziz Mohammed (right) looks on. — Bernama

Earlier, the Deputy Prime Minister held talks with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse where they discussed Malaysian investments in that country, such as in the field of telecommunication and highway construction projects.

Najib said Rajapakse told him that Malaysia was a favourite centre for higher education for Sri Lankan students due to its affordable costs and high quality of education.

In the afternoon, Najib joined 12 other Commonwealth leaders at a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10, Downing Street before attending a dinner hosted by Commonwealth secretary-general Kamalesh Sharma at Marlborough House.

Today, he will attend the summit in the morning, attend a tea hosted by the Duke of York, Prince Andrew, before launching the Jom Makan Restaurant at Pall Mall East under the Malaysian Kitchen programme.

On Wednesday, he will deliver a talk on “Malaysia’s Response to New Global Challenges” at Chatham House, the home of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

Najib will also meet members of the First Royal Malay Regiment at Wellington Barracks, near Buckingham Palace, and witness the changing-of-the-guards ceremony with the Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's office, Lt-Col Andrew Ford.

The regiment had been here since April to perform the prestigious “London Public Duties” which included guarding the official residences of the British monarch, Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.