The chairman of multilateral development bank Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (Apicorp) today rang the market-opening bell at Nasdaq Dubai to celebrate the listing of its $500 million sukuk.

The sukuk is the first to be issued under a $3 billion sukuk programme that the bank announced in July 2015, aimed at diversifying its funding sources and reducing its overall cost of financing.

The bell was rung by Dr Aabed Al Saadoun in the presence of Essa Kazim, governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), secretary general of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC), and chairman of Dubai Financial Market (DFM); Dr Raed Al Rayes, deputy CEO and general manager of Apicorp; Hesham Farid, head of treasury and capital markets, Apicorp; and Hamed Ali, CEO of Nasdaq Dubai.

Commenting on the listing, Saadoun said: “A listing on one of the Middle East’s premier financial exchanges provides our inaugural sukuk with global and regional visibility, together with world class regulation. As a multilateral development bank dedicated to supporting the energy sector with priority given to Arab joint ventures that benefit the members’ states, we look forward to making further use of Islamic financing instruments to fund our initiatives for the benefit of Arab economies.”    

Kazim added: “This listing by a regional bank that is active in many countries demonstrates the success of Dubai’s capital markets in providing a platform for issuers well beyond the UAE. APICORP’s sukuk underlines Dubai’s stature as the leading centre in the world for sukuk listings and its growth as the global Capital of Islamic Economy.”

The total nominal value of sukuk currently listed in Dubai has now reached $37.81 billion.

Speaking on the event, chairman of Nasdaq Dubai, Abdul Wahed Al Fahim, reiterated the organisation’s commitment to providing all sukuk issuers with a well-regulated listing infrastructure that exceeds global standards and providing confidence to investors in the securities. -TradeArabia News Service