Dubai - Decypha: Nasdaq Dubai is currently in talks with a number of Chinese institutions to provide Sharia-compliant products and to help in establishing the needed infrastructure for the Islamic services in the market, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai, Hamed Ali, told Decypha.

He noted the Chinese banks’ interest in listing their sukuk on Nasdaq Dubai, which currently reached four.

Nasdaq Dubai is also seeking to activate an agreement signed with the Tunisian bourse this month to enhance Islamic products and solutions, as well as a deal with Kazakhstan to provide technical consultations.

Ali also revealed that a European bank will soon join the Murabaha platform, with similar interests also shown by six to eight regional banks.

Nasdaq Dubai plans to launch repurchase agreement (Repo) Sharia-compliant contracts in 2017, to help Islamic banks manage liquidity, he concluded.

Nasdaq Dubai is the world’s biggest exchange market in terms of listed Islamic bonds (sukuk) with a total value of $49 billion, as part of the continuing efforts to make Dubai the global capital of Islamic finance, as it currently dominates 85% of the world’s sukuk. Total listing during the first quarter of this year reached $3 billion, and it is expected to achieve the same amount of the previous year in 2017, which totalled $11.5 billion.

By Amr Adel