KUWAIT TIMES - LUXEMBOURG: A four-member delegation from the Kuwaiti parliament visited the Luxembourg Financial Centre, called Luxembourg for Finance, Monday evening to get a first-hand information on the way the banking and finance sector functions in the small European country. The head of the centre, Fernand Grulms, welcomed the Kuwaiti parliamentarians and briefed them on the activities of the Luxembourg Financial Centre which is a public-private partnership between the Luxembourg government and the Luxembourg finan cial industry federation. (source)
He noted that Luxembourg is the second largest investment fund centre in the world after the United States, and the premier private banking centre in the euro-zone. The financial sector is the largest contributor to the Luxembourg economy. 143 banks and 108 insurance companies are based in Luxembourg and 84,000 people are employed in the financial sector. The largest Chinese bank ICBC has chosen Luxembourg as its European headquarters.
Grulms explained that political and social stability, a transparent legal framework, high standard of regulation and Luxembourg's openness to the world are the reasons behind the attraction of international banks and insurance companies. On her part, Elenaor de Rosmorduc, an expert on Islamic banking at the Luxembourg financial centre briefed the Kuwaiti MPs on the situation of the Islamic finance sector in Luxembourg.
She noted that on the global Islamic finance was worth $1 trillion and there were 614 Sharia complaint institutions in 47 countries. Islamic finance was growing by 25 percent annually, she noted. Rosmurduc said that government support, a stable system, tax diversity and a talented workforce are among the factors that are attracting Islamic finance to Luxembourg. There are 39 Sharia complaint institutions based in Luxembourg but there is no Islamic bank here as yet.
Later, speaking to the KUNA, MP Khalid Sultan Bin Eissa said this is the first day of the visit of the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation to Luxembourg. "There are a lot of similarities between Kuwait and Luxembourg which is a small country with a population of 500,000. We discovered here today that Luxembourg holds the second largest position in the financial sector in the world after the US," he said.
Bin Eissa said the lesson to draw for us in Kuwait is that the size and population of a country is not any hindrance in developing Kuwait into an important financial and trade hub in the world. "We learnt today a lot about the financial institutions in Luxemburg and also about Islamic financial institution. Our visit here today was very useful and we call on the financial and investment bodies in Kuwait to explore these special capabilities and to benefit from them," he said.
He noted that even the American finance sector is making use of these capabilities offered by Luxembourg. On his part, Fernand Grulms told KUNA that "Luxembourg and Kuwait can do much more in the future and what we can do is to enact our double-tax treaty because that will lead to improvement in our business." "We must organize networking between business people from Kuwait and Luxembourg so that we start to know each other much better and that will also enhance business development in the future," he sai
d.
Grulms said that today Luxembourg is very well positioned in terms of Islamic finance in Europe and we can certainly provide our tools and our expertise for those who would like to launch Islamic financial products. "We hope to do more business in the future," he added. The Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation includes Dr.Dhaifalla Abu Ramia, Saad Al-Azemi and Al-Saifi Al-Ajmi.
Head of the Kuwaiti parliamentary delegation Mubarak Al-Kherainej who is the president of the Kuwait-Luxembourg inter-parliamentary friendship group and chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the Kuwaiti parliament is expected to arrive in Luxembourg yesterday. -KUNA
No comments:
Post a Comment