The Kuwait Finance House, which is the first Islamic bank in Kuwait was founded in 1977 as an Islamic finance. Islamic finance ınstitutions (IFIs) in Kuwait now comprise two Islamic banks and 31 Islamic investment companies with a joined market share of more than 26% of the domestic banking and financial industry. They also manage an additional 11% of total off-balance sheet accounts in that sector. One more Islamic bank is in the pipeline and is going to enter the market as soon as possible. It is a conventional bank changing into an Islamic bank.
The development of the Islamic finance industry in Kuwait has only been possible with the help of modernization and innovation up to now, and we believe that your discussions and thinking on deeply hopefully will help in availing the chances of further development. We have all seen the unusual developments in the Islamic finance sector. The remarkable double-digit growth during the past ten years or so by this new industry shows its enormous capabilities for further growth and development in the future. Global financial institutions and their regulators did not neglect these potentialities.
Islamic finance is now an apparent presence in the international arena, and is coming out as a principal source of prosperity initiation and an interesting instrument for investment. Not only has Islamic finance obtained powerful footings in principal financial centers worldwide, but it is also undertaking growing importance within mainstream global finance.
