www.bangkokpost.com -The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) plans to
increase its focus on halal food exports, with a target of 3 billion
baht in loans for the industry this year, says bank president Dheerasak
Suwannayos.
The target is a 50% increase from last year, he said. IBank expects
to extend 20 billion baht in credit to all sectors this year.
Mr Dheerasak said of Asean's 601 million people, Muslims account for 260 million.
The planned market integration called the Asean Economic Community in
2015 will result in new business opportunities for the Thai halal food
industry across the region, he said. (source)
Other markets also offer strong potential in the sector. Mr Dheerasak
said while the US has only 8 million Muslims, the value of its halal
food market is quite large at an estimated US$12 billion per year.
The global market is estimated at 700 billion baht per year. Thai
halal food exports are worth only 10 billion baht, out of total Thai
food exports of some 70 billion baht.
Mr Dheerasak said in IBank's 10th year of operations it will
increasingly focus on retail customers, particularly those unable to
access formal financial services. Retail customers account for 62% of
the bank's total credit portfolio, with small and medium-sized
enterprises representing the rest.
The bank hopes its "Family Member" referral programme will help
support its marketing initiatives, with current customers receiving
commission fees based on new business volume generated from referrals.
Over the next several months, the bank also will introduce a new
credit card, with a target of 40,000 cards issued by the end of the
year.
In contrast to ordinary bank credit cards, the IBank card can be used
to purchase goods and services while remaining in compliance with
Islamic laws.
Mr Dheerasak said the bank plans to increase capital, now 12.5
billion baht, by another 1.5 billion in the third quarter to support new
business growth. The additional capital is projected to be sufficient
to support business growth for the next two years.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/300027/ibank-sets-sights-on-halal-export-loans - June 28, 2012
No comments:
Post a Comment