The Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), signed an agreement on Wednesday to assist Kapitalbank with technical advisory services for the establishment of new Islamic banking window. The agreement was signed during ICD official visit to Uzbekistan as part of its mandate to explore development opportunities in the member countries and strengthen ICD's significant advisory footprint in central Asia, especially in Uzbekistan. Through this advisory mandate, ICD is assisting Kapitalbank in launching a dedicated Islamic window in Uzbekistan by providing them with total solution covering Shariah, accounting, information technology, marketing and communication, human resources and legal aspects combined with an on-site extensive theoretical training and supported by on-job training in Islamic banks. On the occasion, Ayman Sejiny, CEO of ICD, said: "We are happy to sign the agreement to support Kapitalbank and share our expertise through the Islamic Financial Institution Program, developed for and with our partners to advise and assist in developing and reinforcing Islamic Finance Industry in the member countries." Oleg Kim, acting chairman of the management board, representing Kapitalbank, stated the following during the signing ceremony: "We believe that the launching of the Islamic window in the bank will allow mobilizing funds of population who, because of their religious beliefs, did not use traditional banking services. In addition, legal entities will receive access to Sharia compliant funding. So through Islamic banking, financial inclusion can be promoted and bring a larger pool of savings in the local and global economy." Kapitalbank was established in 2000 as one of the first private commercial banks in Uzbekistan. The bank has been demonstrating high growth rates in the spheres of corporate and retail banking. The solid list of innovations has allowed the bank to take on the leading positions in the domestic market, which gave a chance to deliver high quality of service to greater number of customers and to become one of the most reliable and financially stable banks of Uzbekistan. The main goals of its strategy are the active development of corporate and investment banking business, conquering fast growing SME sector and expansion of the number of services to retail customers. — SG
