Astana, Kazakhstan : Islamic finance, which is still in infancy in Kazakhstan, received a boost recently with a 2-day high-powered forum on Islamic Finance held in its financial capital of Astana and attended by the country's policy makers and leading industry players.

As the first country of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to introduce legislation on Islamic finance, Kazakhstan hopes to open up new investment opportunities for domestic players and build new links with the Islamic finance world. Towards that end, the country is interested to learn from the experience of Malaysia which is acknowledged worldwide as one the success stories in Islamic Finance.

INCEIF President and CEO Dato' Agil Natt was invited by the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Regulation of Activities of the Regional Finance Centre of Almaty (RFCA) to share Malaysia's story in general and INCEIF's in particular with over 100 participants at the Islamic Finance Forum 2010. RFCA, which is based in the capital city of Almaty, is spearheading the Islamic finance initiatives in the country.

Dato' Agil first spoke on "Development of Islamic finance: Malaysia's Three Decades of Experience" at the Forum which was attended by representatives from the country's Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Industry & Trade as well as bankers, industry practitioners and academicians eager to find out more about Islamic finance and how the country could be part of the growing industry. On the second day of the Forum, he gave a briefing on the basic principles of Islamic Finance.

During his visit to Astana, Dato' Agil also met the Chairman of the RFCA, Mr Arken Arystanov, the Vice Minister of Ministry of Industry and Trade, Mr Yerkhat S. Iskaliev and the Deputy Head of the Prime Minister's Office, Mr Dauren Toleukhanov . He also had discussions with the President of the Academy of Banking, Madam Lyaziza U. Aitbayeva."