22 March 2007

Amana Completes 10 years in Business

Amana Investments Limited celebrated the completion of 10 years in business last week with a simple and elegant event at the Holiday Inn hotel in Colombo.

The highlight of the celebrations was the recognition of Amana’s first 10 customers since the inception of the business and 11 long standing staff members who were all given tokens of appreciation at the event. The company also recognized Bank Islam of Malaysia, its strategic alliance partner, and the former Managing Director of Bank Islam, Dato Ahmad Tajuddin Abdul Rahman, who was instrumental in forging the strategic alliance between the two institutions 1999.
The respected religious scholars serving on the company’s Sharia Suprevisory Council, the body that is responsible to the shareholders and customers on all matters relating to compliance with Sharia Laws, were also recognized and received tokens of appreciation.

The awards were given away by the Malaysian High Commissioner, Her Excellency Nazirah Hussain, the company’s Chairman, Mr Osman Kassim and its Managing Director, Mr Faizal Salieh.

A video clip presentation traced Amana’s history, its business achievements and corporate social responsibility projects which included assistance provided to over 500 distressed families through the company’s unique Qard Hassana Loan Scheme amounting to over Rs 19 million in totally charge-free loans; the Amana Business Reconstruction Fund which helped small scale businesses that were wiped out by the Tsunami to get back on their feet; and the Amana Children’s Charity Fund which completely refurbished the Government-owned Colombo South Teaching Hospital in Kalubowila.

Opening the celebrations, Amana’s Managing Director, Mr Faizal Salieh, said “ A small step that Amana took in 1997 has led to a major revolution in Sri Lanka’s Islamic Financial Services Sector. Today, we stand in the forefront of this revolution creating challenging and innovative waves and trends in the fields of Islamic finance, Islamic banking, Islamic insurance, Islamic fund management and Islamic stock-broking.” He further quipped “ Our journey has not been an easy one. It’s been a hard road but we’ve never turned back. We shall continue to explore and expand the frontiers of Islamic financial services in this country and in the region.”

Speaking at the ceremony, the company’s Chairman, Mr Osman Kassim, said “ Amana wouldn’t be what it is today if not for the support of its staff and customers. Our vision is to be world class and become the best Islamic bank in the world.” He also said that justice, fairplay and the equitable distribution of wealth were the fundamental characteristics of the Islamic financial system and paid a glowing tribute to the late Mr M.S. Alif who was a prime mover behind Amana’s birth and entry into Sri Lanka’s financial sector.