Latest news with #HSBCBankMiddleEast
Zawya
10-04-2025
- Business
- Zawya
GCC on track to see an uptick in local currency sukuk
The local currency debt market in the Middle East is expected to gain traction through large sovereign issuances this year, with Qatar and Kuwait emerging as important players. 'I think local currencies are seeing an uptick in issuances, and a lot of it is being driven by the respective sovereigns and governments within the Middle East wanting to promote their local markets,' said Ali Taufeeq, Head of Sukuk MENAT, HSBC Bank Middle East. 'Southeast Asia obviously has been quite ahead in this game, starting from developing their local currency bond and sukuk market since the Asian financial crisis in 1997.' According to Taufeeq, in the GCC, Saudi Arabia has been the only market ahead of the curve, having established its Saudi Riyal Local Sukuk Program in 2017, 'but now we are seeing some of the other countries put a bit more emphasis on this as they develop domestic markets,' citing UAE's Islamic T-Sukuk issuance programme launched in 2023. A reversal in trend is now visible, say experts, following a year that saw local currency sukuk issuances decline by 14.6% year-on-year globally due to tightening fiscal policies in several key markets in 2024, according to S&P Global. The largest drop in local-currency issuance was in Malaysia, where government issuance decreased because of a smaller fiscal deficit due to the reduction of subsidies. Liquidity constraints also emerged as a key hurdle for markets such as Pakistan and Türkiye, while Indonesia's sovereign sukuk volume fell amid fiscal adjustments. Saudi was the only market that bucked this trend, which reported an increase in local currency sukuk issuances, particularly through large sovereign and retail offerings, just shy of $25 billion in 2024, and up from an estimated $18 billion in 2023. According to LSEG's MENA Investment Banking report 2024, December's Saudi Awwal Bank $1.06 billion Saudi riyal issuance was the biggest local currency sukuk last year. GCC market According to Taufeeq, over the last two years, the UAE has been taking a more active role with the federal government developing its local currency sukuk issuance programme to help diversify funding sources and minimise dependency on the foreign capital markets. The 2023 launch of the dirham-denominated Islamic Treasury Sukuk (T-Sukuk), with a benchmark auction size of AED1.1 billion ($299 million) was a step by the UAE to expand its investor base for local currency and help reduce exposure to rollover and foreign exchange fluctuation risks. 'In the UAE, in particular, we have seen several new issuers, the likes of Mubadala, Emirates Islamic Bank, First Abu Dhabi Bank, and we have seen the regulators really encourage them to go out and build this market, so that they are not only reliant on hard currency borrowing,' Taufeeq said. 'They are trying to develop a curve, and I think we are seeing that in the likes of Qatar and Kuwait as well.' According to Akber Khan, acting CEO of Al Rayan Investment, a subsidiary of the Qatar-based Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan, the local currency debt market in Qatar is also expected to gain traction this year with more banks stepping into the game. 'The banks are well capitalised right now, but both sovereigns and corporates may well reach out to the debt markets if a lower oil price environment comes back,' said Khan, alluding to the volatility in wake of US President Donald Trump's tariff declaration on April 2, which is now on a 90-day pause for tariffs over the baseline, universal rate of 10%, following a late-night announcement on Wednesday, excluding China. While Saudi and the UAE have been active players in the local currency debt market, Khan called Qatar 'hesitant' in stepping up because it 'needs the additional resources a lot less,' while hinting the sovereign state could see a few issuances before the end of 2025. In 2023, the Doha-based Estithmar Holding issued a 500 million Qatari riyal ($137 million) sukuk, becoming the first corporate local currency-denominated sukuk in the country. The issuance was the first tranche of a QAR 3.4 billion sukuk programme, listed on the London Stock Exchange's international securities market. Emergence of Kuwait For investors in the region, Kuwait is now an area of focus, especially in the local currency market, following changes in its debt law, approved last month, which allows the government to borrow up to $99 billion over a period of 50 years to fund budget deficits and infrastructure projects beyond withdrawal from the Gulf state's financial reserves abroad. 'Kuwait is definitely an interesting market over the course of this year with a lot of changes happening. There's a new debt law in Kuwait; there's hundreds of billions of dollars of catch-up expenditure and CAPEX to be done across every sector of the economy. The banks are well capitalised, but both the sovereign and other corporates may well reach out to debt markets to help in that process. I think Kuwait will be something that people will focus on,' said Khan, especially as infrastructure needs rise in the country. According to Mohamad Safri Shahul Hamid, CEO of the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), a governing body established by central banks to facilitate cross-border liquidity, developments in the GCC will give a boost to the local sukuk market this year. 'In terms of the promotion of local currency sukuks, countries such as Qatar and Kuwait will set the tone for the growth of the sukuk market this year. We are expecting between $190 billion to $200 billion of new sukuk to be issued this year and 35% of that is going to be due to sukuk which are maturing. But there will be some new sukuk issuances this year, and a lot of this will also be due to the growth of the local currency market in these respective countries, especially in in traditional markets such as Malaysia, and in new markets, including Qatar and Kuwait,' said Safri. According to Khan, the local currency issuance market can only grow given that the discussions are starting to happen globally about the place of the US dollar as a global currency. 'I don't think it is going anywhere for a long, long time, but it is nice to start having some alternatives in the form of local currencies, and the nice thing about that in our part of the world is we are all pegged to the dollar. So, from an international investors' perspective, we are not going to get that same currency volatility that they will have in the rest of the world. So that's obviously a positive.'
Mid East Info
27-03-2025
- Business
- Mid East Info
Goumbook Announces Semi-Finalists for the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme
Goumbook, a leading social enterprise accelerating sustainability and climate action across the MENAT region, has officially announced the semi-finalists for this second cohort of the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme, in partnership with Saudi Awwal Bank, HSBC Bank Middle East, with the support of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) Food and the Climate Champions Team. Following 510 registrations of interest from over 80 research and academic institutions across 65 countries – representing a 223 per cent increase from the first cohort – 20 innovative, research & science-backed solutions have been shortlisted to progress into the next phase. These solutions are designed to directly respond to the region's unique agricultural and environmental challenges. The MENAT region is experiencing some of the world's most critical climate-related pressures. According to the World Bank, 89 per cent of the region's land is classified as drylands, with over 45 per cent already affected by desertification. Over the past two decades, more than half of all land and one-quarter of arable land in the region suffers from soil degradation, contributing to a 40 per cent loss in vegetation. This is driven by rising temperatures, which are increasing, in the region, 1.5 times faster than the global average as per a recent study, as well as unsustainable land management and resource exploitation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, salt-affected soils now stretch across more than 2.3 million square kilometres in the Near East and North Africa, threatening the productivity of future farming. The principles of regenerative agriculture are well positioned to address these key environmental and social challenges. Despite these daunting conditions, the region is rich in untapped scientific and research talent, and demonstrates a strong heritage in desert integrated and climate resilient farming expertise. The Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme was created to harness this potential by supporting researchers and scientists who are developing regionally relevant, regenerative innovative solutions that can restore degraded land, improve food & water security, and build long-term climate resilience. Samantha Kayruz, Strategy and Sustainability Impact Director at Goumbook, said: The Venture Programme as part of the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative has quickly emerged as a vital bridge between research, science, and entrepreneurship. The overwhelming response to this year's programme underscores the urgent need for regionally relevant solutions, while transforming the region into a global incubator for climate resilient and desert integrated agriculture. By leveraging the region's heritage and expertise in harsh agriculture and desert conditions, we aim to scale high-impact solutions that can drive sustainable and regenerative agriculture worldwide.' This year's semi-finalists include researchers, scientists, and entrepreneurs working on solutions ranging from organic and bio-fertilisers, agri-robotics, climate -resilient crops, agrivoltaics, biotech, to AI-powered early disease detection and sustainable livestock systems. Their work demonstrates how homegrown innovation can effectively respond to local conditions and global challenges alike. Actinobacteria (Ibn Zohr University, Morocco) (Ibn Zohr University, Morocco) AOS AI'griculture (Turkey) (Turkey) AquaShade Oasis (University of Jordan) (University of Jordan) Bactorhiza (Egypt) (Egypt) BlueBounty ProMix (India/UAE) (India/UAE) DiseaseExpert (Oman) (Oman) ECOVER (Morocco) (Morocco) Endophyte Biofertilizers (Dhofar University, Oman) (Dhofar University, Oman) Farm to 2Fs (Estidamah, Saudi Arabia) (Estidamah, Saudi Arabia) FertiSolo (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) (KAUST, Saudi Arabia) Indigenous Silvopasture (Qassim University, Saudi Arabia) (Qassim University, Saudi Arabia) Microfluidics System (NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE) (NYU Abu Dhabi, UAE) No-Till Seeder (University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco) (University of Mohammed VI Polytechnic, Morocco) OZ-TECH (Heliopolis University, Egypt) (Heliopolis University, Egypt) RedDot Red Palm Weevil (United Kingdom/UAE) (United Kingdom/UAE) Smart Relay-Intercropping (ICARDA, Morocco) (ICARDA, Morocco) SmartAgri-AIoT (Egypt) (Egypt) TarLab Biyoteknoloji (Turkey) (Turkey) VerdiSol (UAE) The 20 semi-finalists were selected by an expert judging evaluation committee using across six evaluation criteria: alignment with regenerative agriculture principles, scientific and research credentials, relevance to addressing the MENAT specific conditions, uniqueness of innovation, environmental social and economic impact of the solutions, and potential for scalability. These semi finalists will embark on Bootcamp 1, a learning journey composed of mentorship and expert-led training modules; that will help capacity build and upskill the participants, to drive their solutions forward – strengthening their regenerative, sustainability & entrepreneurial transferrable skills, and preparing them for implementation and scale. The Top 10 Finalists will be shortlisted to then progress to the final pitch event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in May 2025, to select the top 3 winners; where they will compete for grants funding, incubation opportunities, and the chance to collaborate directly with cross sectoral agricultural stakeholders across the region. Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Founder and Managing Director at Goumbook, said: 'The solutions to our agricultural challenges already exist within our region. Our mission is to create the conditions that allow these innovations to thrive. Through collaborative efforts with partners, the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Initiative is cultivating a new generation of homegrown innovators capable of transforming MENAT's agricultural future while providing globally relevant models for climate adaptation, soil restoration, and water stewardship.' As global climate pressures intensify, the innovations emerging from the MENAT Regenerative Agriculture Venture Programme have the potential to influence agriculture practices towards nature-positive solutions far beyond the region. Designed for extreme heat, water scarcity, salinity and land degradation, these solutions represent a scalable approach to food security, biodiversity & land restoration, and environmental resilience in a changing world. Supporting information on regenerative agriculture: The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports that irrigated agriculture—which increasingly depends on groundwater—consumes around 85% of renewable water resources in the MENAT region. Small-scale family farms, responsible for over 80% of global crop and livestock production, face critical challenges like water scarcity, soil degradation, and limited support, with many proposed innovations remaining inaccessible to them. Approximately 45% of agricultural land is impacted by salinity, nutrient depletion, and erosion, with overall land degradation estimated between 40% and 70% over the past two decades. Regenerative agriculture, through its fundamental principles and adoption of resilient crop varieties that require less water, fewer pesticides, and reduced chemical inputs, is an approach that translates as a vital component in addressing the region-specific agriculture and climate challenges of the MENAT region. Regenerative agriculture also holds the potential to sequester carbon dioxide, making it a climate change mitigation and adaptation solution.
Zawya
03-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
MENAT GDP to reach $4trln by year-end: HSBC research
The Middle East is at the centre of a fundamental transformation as global capital flows shift towards new engines of growth. Selim Kervanci, Chief Executive Officer, Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT), HSBC Bank Middle East, said: 'Traditional financial centres are adapting to a world where the Middle East and Asia are driving rather than following global investment trends.' Kervanci was speaking this week at the HSBC MENAT Future Forum, held in the Four Seasons, Jumeriah, Dubai. In its ninth year, the forum is the region's largest private gathering of international investors, regulators, exchanges, and market participants. With attendance at an all-time high, topping the 800 attendees of 2024, delegates from MENAT markets gathered with global investors to discuss opportunities in the region, and particularly its growing corridor with Asia. Commenting on current liquidity conditions, Kervanci said: 'Public and private markets are reshaping investment and capital flows with the Middle East and Asia emerging as the new centre of gravity. Structural reforms across the Middle East, coupled with agile policymaking, have fundamentally altered the region's investment landscape. The growing opportunities in the two regions are creating one of the most significant shifts in the global economy, driven by the Middle East's investment-led economic transformation, the GCC and Asia's rising wealth and the necessity of transitioning to sustainable economies.' While traditional markets wrestle with economic headwinds, an unprecedented $3 trillion in capital spending across the Gulf Cooperation Council is recalibrating the global investment landscape. According to HSBC Global Research, MENAT could see the average pace of growth rise to above 3.5% this year, up 1.4 percentage points on last year's average. This should lift MENAT GDP to almost $4 trillion by the end of 2025, up more than 40% on its pre-Covid-19 level. Speaking at the forum, Nabeel Albloushi, HSBC's Head of Markets and Securities Services MENAT, said: 'The question is no longer whether to invest in the region, but how to optimise exposure to its historic transformation. The growth in primary market activity is a key indicator, with significant issuances in both the equity and debt capital markets. This trend persisted even when global markets experienced slowdowns, highlighting investor confidence.' Over the three days, participants took part in 1-1 investor meetings in addition to panel discussions with CEOs, Heads of Financial Market Intermediaries, Securities Regulators and experts from across HSBC's global network for discussions focused on innovation, the development of capital markets and AI's expanding role. In a step change to previous years, HSBC gathered market leaders in the luxury consumer market to explore opportunities in a sector expected to generate over $20 billion by the end of the decade, almost doubling in size over 10 years. Additionally, the forum dedicated a series of panels to exploring hedge fund strategies, quantitative investing and asset allocation, as the UAE's hedge fund industry booms. - TradeArabia News Service Copyright 2024 Al Hilal Publishing and Marketing Group Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
Trade Arabia
02-03-2025
- Business
- Trade Arabia
MENAT GDP to reach $4trn by year-end: HSBC research
The Middle East is at the centre of a fundamental transformation as global capital flows shift towards new engines of growth. Selim Kervanci, Chief Executive Officer, Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT), HSBC Bank Middle East, said: 'Traditional financial centres are adapting to a world where the Middle East and Asia are driving rather than following global investment trends.' Kervanci was speaking this week at the HSBC MENAT Future Forum, held in the Four Seasons, Jumeriah, Dubai. In its ninth year, the forum is the region's largest private gathering of international investors, regulators, exchanges, and market participants. With attendance at an all-time high, topping the 800 attendees of 2024, delegates from MENAT markets gathered with global investors to discuss opportunities in the region, and particularly its growing corridor with Asia. Commenting on current liquidity conditions, Kervanci said: 'Public and private markets are reshaping investment and capital flows with the Middle East and Asia emerging as the new centre of gravity. Structural reforms across the Middle East, coupled with agile policymaking, have fundamentally altered the region's investment landscape. The growing opportunities in the two regions are creating one of the most significant shifts in the global economy, driven by the Middle East's investment-led economic transformation, the GCC and Asia's rising wealth and the necessity of transitioning to sustainable economies.' While traditional markets wrestle with economic headwinds, an unprecedented $3 trillion in capital spending across the Gulf Cooperation Council is recalibrating the global investment landscape. According to HSBC Global Research, MENAT could see the average pace of growth rise to above 3.5% this year, up 1.4 percentage points on last year's average. This should lift MENAT GDP to almost $4 trillion by the end of 2025, up more than 40% on its pre-Covid-19 level. Speaking at the forum, Nabeel Albloushi, HSBC's Head of Markets and Securities Services MENAT, said: 'The question is no longer whether to invest in the region, but how to optimise exposure to its historic transformation. The growth in primary market activity is a key indicator, with significant issuances in both the equity and debt capital markets. This trend persisted even when global markets experienced slowdowns, highlighting investor confidence.' Over the three days, participants took part in 1-1 investor meetings in addition to panel discussions with CEOs, Heads of Financial Market Intermediaries, Securities Regulators and experts from across HSBC's global network for discussions focused on innovation, the development of capital markets and AI's expanding role. In a step change to previous years, HSBC gathered market leaders in the luxury consumer market to explore opportunities in a sector expected to generate over $20 billion by the end of the decade, almost doubling in size over 10 years.
Zawya
27-02-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Eastward shift of capital points to a permanent realignment of global finance
DUBAI – The Middle East is at the center of a fundamental transformation as global capital flows shift towards new engines of growth. According to Selim Kervanci, Chief Executive Officer, Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT), HSBC Bank Middle East: 'Traditional financial centres are adapting to a world where the Middle East and Asia are driving rather than following global investment trends.' Kervanci was speaking this week at the HSBC MENAT Future Forum, held in the Four Seasons, Jumeriah, Dubai. In its ninth year, the Forum is the region's largest private gathering of international investors, regulators, exchanges, and market participants. With attendance at an all-time high, topping the 800 attendees of 2024, delegates from MENAT markets gathered with global investors to discuss opportunities in the region, and particularly its growing corridor with Asia. Commenting on current liquidity conditions, Kervanci said: 'Public and private markets are reshaping investment and capital flows with the Middle East and Asia emerging as the new center of gravity. Structural reforms across the Middle East, coupled with agile policymaking, have fundamentally altered the region's investment landscape. The growing opportunities in the two regions are creating one of the most significant shifts in the global economy, driven by the Middle East's investment-led economic transformation, the GCC and Asia's rising wealth and the necessity of transitioning to sustainable economies.' While traditional markets wrestle with economic headwinds, an unprecedented $3 trillion in capital spending across the Gulf Cooperation Council is recalibrating the global investment landscape. According to HSBC Global Research, MENAT could see the average pace of growth rise to above 3.5% this year, up 1.4 percentage points on last year's average. This should lift MENAT GDP to almost US$4 trillion by the end of 2025, up more than 40% on its pre-Covid-19 level. [1] Speaking at the Forum, Nabeel Albloushi, HSBC's Head of Markets and Securities Services MENAT, said: ' The question is no longer whether to invest in the region, but how to optimise exposure to its historic transformation. The growth in primary market activity is a key indicator, with significant issuances in both the equity and debt capital markets. This trend persisted even when global markets experienced slowdowns, highlighting investor confidence.' Over the three days, participants took part in 1-1 investor meetings in addition to panel discussions with CEOs, Heads of Financial Market Intermediaries, Securities Regulators and experts from across HSBC's global network for discussions focused on innovation, the development of capital markets and AI's expanding role. In a step change to previous years, HSBC gathered market leaders in the luxury consumer market to explore opportunities in a sector expected to generate over $20 billion by the end of the decade, almost doubling in size over 10 years. [2] Additionally, the Forum dedicated a series of panels to exploring hedge fund strategies, quantitative investing and asset allocation, as the UAE's hedge fund industry booms. -Ends- Media enquiries to: Ahmad Othman ahmadothman@ HSBC in the MENAT region HSBC is the largest and most widely represented international banking organisation in the Middle East, North Africa and Türkiye (MENAT), with a presence in nine countries across the region: Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Türkiye and the United Arab Emirates. In Saudi Arabia, HSBC is a 31% shareholder of Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB), and a 51% shareholder of HSBC Saudi Arabia for investment banking in the Kingdom. Across MENAT, HSBC had assets of US$73bn as at 31 December 2024.
