Al Manamah,12 August, 2008: Arbah Global Gulf, global investment arm of the Saudi based Arbah Capital, has signed a joint venture agreement with a number of Asian financial institutions with the aim of establishing Arbah Capital Asia, which will be based in Bahrain.

The signing of the agreement took place in Arbah Capital's headquarters in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, during a two-day session that was held in order for the various partners to lay down the groundwork for the venture.  The agreement forms part of Arbah Capital's ambitious investment vision for delivering the most sophisticated financial services, and is consistent with the objective of Sharia'a compliant financial institutions to forge strategic alliances that will help them achieve their goals. 

Dhafer Alqahtani, CEO of Arbah Global, signed the agreement on behalf of the firm in the presence of members of Arbah Capital's Board of Directors, including Sheikh Hussein Al Nemer, Chairman of Awali and member of both Arbah Capital and Arbah Global Gulf's Boards of Directors.

The Asian financial institutions signing the agreement were Chinese firms Shanghai International Asset Management (HK); LottVision; Philip KH Wong, Kennedy YH Wong & Co.; Calypso Capital; and South Korean firms Goodmorning Shinhan and Sejong Investment Management.

In his statement on the occasion, Sheikh Hussein Al Nemer said, "The business and financial relations between GCC countries and the East Asia region have experienced noticeable growth over the last few years - growth that has been reflected in several fruitful agreements and partnerships between firms from these two regions, which have added further momentum to the relationship between the two regions, paving the way for other successful forms of bilateral relations and joint ventures, and boosting the reciprocal confidence between these regions. Arbah's agreement with a number of Asian financial institutions is part of this promising business trend.

"This strategic alliance aims to establish local and Asian investment funds to capitalize on existing opportunities within the most vital sectors in both regions, in such projects as energy, oil, infrastructure, petrochemicals, communications and real estate," he said.  

There has been an increasing shift of Gulf investors' interest and a growing number of affiliations formed with firms and investors from developing parts of the world, particularly Asia, as is evident in the fact that Saudi Arabia currently counts South Korea among its top ten trade partners and in by the visit paid by King Abdullah,  Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to Beijing in 2006, when he became the first Saudi king to officially visit the Chinese capital. 

Awali has co-founded a number of companies in the financial sector throughout the GCC, such as Arbah Capital, Awali Financial Support Services and Financia, in addition to several real estate firms, including Jenan Real Estate and Mawten Real Estate. The company has also co-founded Afaq Aviation, United Holding Company and the Dubai based USOS Real Estate, a joint venture with Dubai Islamic Bank and a number of other strategic partners.

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© Press Release 2008