INDONESIA - SINGAPORE - BANKING - Maybank IB sets sights on big IPOs

www.btimes.com.my - MAYBANK Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB) is optimistic of handling more higher valued initial public offerings (IPOs) this year.

"There was a dramatic slowdown in last year's IPO trend but we see big ones coming up this year," said Maybank IB chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Zafrul Aziz. (source)

INDONESIA - BANKING - First Gulf Bank plans four Asia offices to boost financing role - private banking top priority - not concrete plans for Islamic banking yet - Indonesia on the list

Singapore: Abu Dhabi-based First Gulf Bank (FGB) plans to set up four more representative branches in southeast Asia in a push to play a bigger role in financing energy and commodities projects in the fast-growing region, the head of the lender's Singapore office said. (source)

MALAYSIA - TAKAFUL - Takaful Ehsan looks beyond Malaysia - also Indonesia

http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/ehsan11/Article/index_html

KUALA LUMPUR: ING Public Takaful Ehsan Bhd has set its sights on penetrating the overseas takaful market by 2015, said its top executive.

The Islamic insurance operator plans to leverage on its shareholders, ING and Public Bank, which has presence in several global market such as India, China, Indonesia and Indochina.

"A significant strategy of Takaful Ehsan is to embark on a global market penetration strategy after three years in operation," chief executive Saiful Yazan Ahmad told Business Times in a recent interview. (source)

HALAL - Vietnam needs more Halal products

Ahmad Shanizam, Trade Commissioner at the Consulate General of Malaysia in HCMC, discusses the importance of the Halal market and Halal products (*) for helping attract Muslim tourists to Vietnam. The Saigon Times Daily interviewed the commissioner on the sidelines of the Halal Certification-Export Opportunities and Approaches for Vietnamese Entrepreneurs seminar recently organized in HCMC by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. (source)

THAILAND - Islamic Bank sees market potential in Upper South

The Islamic Bank of Thailand (IBank) plans to expand its financial services to the upper southern provinces to support Muslim communities affected by recent flooding, according to president Dheerasak Suwannayos.

The bank will focus on Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Phatthalung and Trang provinces for its business expansion, which is scheduled for the second quarter this year after the flooding eases. (full story)