Standard Chartered Saadiq launches Halal360 initiative to fund SMES in Asia, Middle East and Africa

The British bank’s global Islamic banking brand, Standard Chartered Saadiq, has launched an Islamic financial programme to fund Halal businesses of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Asia, the Middle East and Africa, Zawya reports.
The fund, $100 million in value is part of the bank’s Halal360 initiative, is also targeted at helping corporates and multinationals, with a focus on some of the key Halal markets such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Bahrain, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
Hairol Ariffein Sahari, CEO of Halal Development Corporation Berhad (HDC) expects the program to help companies such as those in Malaysia to penetrate markets in the Middle East, Asia and other global markets. HDC is the leading company in Malaysia’s integrated and comprehensive Halal ecosystem and infrastructure to strengthen the country’s presence in the global Halal market, Zawya notes.
Standard Chartered Saadiq is the only international Islamic banking network with a presence spanning across Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

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