The next wave of Islamic finance will be driven by rapid growth markets identified by the Bahrain and those identified by the QISMUT acronym: Qatar, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE and Turkey, according to EY's World Islamic Banking Competitiveness Report 2013–14.
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| Doha by night, with the FANAR minaret in the distance. |
"By 2018, these rapid growth markets will represent GDP of US$4.8 trillion, a mostly young population of around 419 million, trade flows of US$3.6 trillion, and banking assets of US$6 trillion," said Abdulaziz Al Sowailim, Regional Managing Partner, MENA region, EY, in the foreword. "With expanding economies and a fast-growing customer base for financial services, QISMUT is an attractive prospect for any bank looking to grow its revenues."
"Islamic banks are already serving 38 million customers globally, two-thirds of whom reside in QISMUT," added Ashar Nazim, Global Islamic Finance Leader, EY and Jan Bellens, Global Emerging Markets Leader, Banking and Capital Markets, EY, in a joint executive brief. "We expect Islamic banking assets with commercial banks to grow at a CAGR of 19.7% over 2013-18 across the QISMUT countries to reach US$1.6 trillion by 2018."