Asian Islamic Financial Centers

BusinessWeek has an article about the growing ties between the Middle East and Asia with a section on Islamic finance and banking in Singapore and Malaysia.

"For Southeast Asian financial centers such as Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, the evolution of Islamic finance from a novelty to a mass market phenomenon in the Muslim world is a huge opportunity, too. Islamic financial services now comprise a roughly $1 trillion market worldwide, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor's. [...] Islamic banking assets already account for 12.2% of total banking assets in Malaysia. The government has said it aims to have 20% of all banking assets in Malaysia under Islamic banks by 2010."