The Islamic Finance Handbook: A Practitioner's Guide to the Global Markets

Chapter 29ThailandThe Uncharted Horizon

S. M. Aamir Shamim

Senior Vice President and IB Specialist, Treasury and Investment Group, Islamic Bank of Thailand

Starting modestly nearly four decades ago, global Islamic finance has witnessed significant progress in attracting both Muslim and non-Muslim clients. The Middle East and Asia are the largest Islamic financial markets, but many developed non-Muslim countries—including the United States, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Luxembourg, Singapore, and China—are gradually recognizing Islamic finance as an alternate and viable financial system. Recent reports suggest that global Islamic banking assets are set to exceed US$1.8 trillion; however, at the end of 2013, the size of the total assets that are Shari'ah-compliant are in excess of US$1.3 trillion. The industry's growth trajectory continues to remain positive, even registering a 50 percent faster growth rate than the conventional banking sector in several regions.

Southeast Asia is the most rapidly growing economic region in the world. Islamic finance, which was introduced a few decades ago, is at the forefront of nearly 40 percent of all financial transactions in countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia, which are the prime players in the Shari'ah-compliant financial sector.

Thailand is the second largest economy of Southeast Asia and one of the fastest growing economies in Asia. The country has witnessed its share of all sorts of turmoil and catastrophe—political, ...