The Astana International Financial Centre (AIFC) has been established to provide an attractive platform and gateway to the Central Asian region for financial services sector firms.
One of the aims of the AIFC is to promote the growth and development of Islamic financial services in Kazakhstan and the wider region. With that in mind, the AIFC has worked closely with the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) and Asian Development Bank (ADB) to create a favourable legal and regulatory environment, industry master plan, developing products and tools that will attract Islamic banking and non-banking financial services, as well as investment capital from Central Asia, Middle East and South East Asia.
To promote the AIFC as a regional hub for Islamic finance the Advisory Council for Islamic Finance (ACIF) has been established. DDCAP Group Managing Director, Stella Cox CBE, was honoured to receive an invitation from H.E. Dr. Kairat Kelimbetov, Governor of the AIFC and ISDB Governor for Kazakhstan, to join the ACIF. Her appointment became effective in January 2019.