CAIRO: in line with His Majesty King’s visit to Egypt, Bahrain based leading Islamic banking group, Al Baraka Banking Group B.S.C (ABG), has reaffirmed its support for the good and fruitful efforts made by the Kingdom of Bahrain during this landmark visit.
“The ABG supports the efforts aimed at further developing relations at all levels with its brotherly Arab countries, especially the recent visit by his Majesty the King to the Arab Republic of Egypt, and what was resulted from this blessed visit of a very important economic consequences, and the signing of several agreements, programmes and memoranda of understanding which will bring benefit and the interest for the two brotherly countries and open up new horizons for Bahraini and Egyptian businesses and financial institutions to achieve greater partnerships and cooperation among them,” ABG in a statement said.
On the side events of the Egyptian Bahraini Business Forum, which was held on the occasion of the official visit of His Majesty the King to Egypt, and with the cooperation of Al Baraka Islamic Bank – Bahrain, Al Baraka Bank Egypt hosted a gala dinner for the Bahraini businessmen delegation which participated in the forum and was attended from Al Baraka by Mr. Mohammed Issa Al Mutaweh, CEO of Al Baraka Islamic Bank, Mr. Ashraf El Ghamrawy CEO of Al Baraka Bank Egypt and a number of officials from the two banks, and from the Bahraini side members of the delegation, led by Mr. Zayed Al Zayani Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Mr. Rasheed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and Mr. Khalid Al Moayed Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce and industry, as well as chair and members of the Egyptian businessmen delegation.
The Forum was a great success as it witnessed the signing of 11 diverse agreements reflecting the importance of the visit of His Majesty the King and accompanied Bahraini businessmen delegation to Cairo, as well as a sincere desire to expand trade and cooperation between the two countries. The agreements included most areas such as agreements on services, research, fertilizer and other important sectors of the economy, where it is hoped that the signing of these agreements will contribute to a doubling of the volume of trade exchange between the two countries from about US$ 400 million currently to a billion dollars over the next few years.
Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group emphasized on the Group’s keenness by contributing to the support of the steps and initiatives undertaken by the Kingdom of Bahrain, led by His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, may God protect him, in the development and expansion of economic and trade partnerships with its sister Arab countries, particularly with the Arab Republic of Egypt, given its pivotal role and main gravity in all Arab issues, including the achievement of Arab economic integration. We, at Al Baraka Banking Group, and being present in 15 Arab, Asian and African countries, including the Arab Republic of Egypt through Al Baraka Bank Egypt, which plays a key role in financing the development programs and intra-trade between the two countries since its inception in 1980, renew our resolve to continue to make every effort in order to crystallize the results of the auspicious visit into business, financing and investment opportunities, contributing thereby to the achievement of the visit’s benevolent objectives.
Al Baraka Banking Group (B.S.C) is licensed as an Islamic wholesale bank by the Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic banking group providing its unique services in countries with a population totaling around one billion. It is jointly rated BBB+ (long term) / A3 (short term) on the international scale and A+ (bh) (long term) / A2 (bh) (short term) on the national by Islamic International Rating Agency & Dagong Global Credit Rating Company Limited, and by Standard & Poor’s at BB+ (long term) / B (short term).
Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is US$ 1.5 billion, while total equity is at about US$ 2.1 billion.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through over 600 branches. Al Baraka currently has a strong presence in Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, Bahrain, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, including two representative offices in Indonesia and Libya.
