KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- One of Turkey's biggest financial institutions, the Asya Bank, has indicated an interest in forging cooperation with Islamic banks in Malaysia, namely Maybank Bhd and CIMB Bank.

The aim is to establish an Islamic Bank in Turkey.

"Although Turkey was once an Islamic superpower, it now needs our assistance in implementing the system of Islamic finance," said Second Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah.

He said this in his speech while officiating the 6th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum here on Monday.

Also present was the Halal Industry Development Corporation (HDC) chief executive officer, Datuk Seri Jamil Bidin.

Asked whether the collaboration would be in terms of just the sharing of expertise or a joint venture, he said it could be one or both.

"It depends on the rules and regulations of the Turkish banking industry," he added.

Husni also said that he would personally send letters to both Maybank and CIMB to inform them of Asya Bank's collaboration interest.

He said the advent of Malaysia as the leader in Islamic finance should be taken full advantage of by local financial institutions to expand the business overseas.

"The best way for them to spread their wings overseas is to establish joint ventures. In this way, the responsibility of risk can be minimised with returns in respect of brand introduction and market intelligence obtained.

"With the first mover advantage, Malaysian financial institutions can capture markets which were previously not filled, by moving overseas," he said.

Husni highlighted that other countries such as Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Singapore are fast growing their Islamic Finance sector.

"Malaysia should not lose out as we were the first to take it up," he said.

He also stated that, Malaysia was the pioneer in starting the halal industry in the context of a modern industrial network.

"Unfortunately, this early momentum was lost and now we find our neighbours aggressively entering the international halal market.We have conceded the first mover advantage," he said.

Husni said to return the momentum to Malaysia's halal industry, the government will restructure the HDC.

-- BERNAMA