Malaysian banks invited to open in Pakistan

Pakistan asks Malaysian banks to do business in traditional and Islamic banking.

Masood Khalid, High Commissioner for Pakistan to Malaysia, said Pakistan encourages Malaysian financial institutions to explore expansion opportunities, especially in Islamic banking and other areas of interest to both Islamic countries.

“Our Prime Minister invited Malaysian banks to open branches in Pakistan,” he said. “Maybank is already there and has bought a substantial stake in a Pakistani bank . . . I hope leading banks like CIMB will also explore the possibility.”

Pakistani Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani discussed the possibility of cooperation in the banking sector with his Malaysian peer, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, when they met in Australia last year.

Masood said he was expecting Bank Negara Malaysia Governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz to talk to State Bank of Pakistan Governor Yaseen Anwar about how Malaysian financial institutions can expand their operations to Pakistan during their scheduled future meeting.

Masood also called for more investments from Malaysia, saying there are many areas that can be further explored “. . . I can say that, the sky is the limit.”