Kuwait Finance House (KGH)-Bahrain has signed a deal with Meethaq Islamic Banking Group, a unit of Bank Muscat, to support joint business opportunities in the Islamic banking sector.

This relates to areas of treasury transactions, trade finance and capital markets (sukuk and syndications in the Sultanate of Oman), said KFH-Bahrain in a statement.

In terms of interbank relationship, the MoU particularly addresses "WASI", an overnight liquidity management product launched by the Bahrain-based bank.

This is a culmination of our mutual desire to work together and consider the prospects of joint business in various fields of Islamic banking to develop new opportunities, stated Abdulhakeem Alkhayyat, the managing director & CEO of KFH-Bahrain after signing the MoU with Sulaiman Al Harthy, the group general manager of Meethaq Islamic Banking Group.

"We are happy to add Meethaq Islamic Banking to our growing list of partners who work with us to offer distinctive services and products," he stated.

Alkhayyat said KFH-Bahrain aims to collaborate with many Islamic financial institutions as a key facilitator for the development and growth of the industry to meet future requirements in future.

Al Harthy said Oman was expected to witness a substantial growth in the Islamic banking industry within the coming years. "We consider our partnership with KFH-Bahrain a great advantage to maximize mutual favourable opportunities that lie ahead and expand our coverage. In addition to that, it will support the position of Meethaq Group in the Islamic banking industry."

"As per the deal, Meethaq will work with KFH-Bahrain to offer various Islamic finance products including treasury transactions, trade finance and capital markets business in the Sultanate with sukuk and syndications in particular," said the official.

"Oman has a growing Islamic banking industry with sound regulations, laws and transparency. Meethaq Group is working to strengthen its presence in the Sultanate of Oman by expanding its branches across the Sultanate and offering various banking products and services that comply with Islamic law," stated Al Harthy.

Bank Muscat / Meethaq Islamic Banking Group is the first financial institution in the Sultanate to receive a licence from the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and the first to introduce Shari’a compliant products to the public.-TradeArabia News Service