Bishkek, April 22, 2025. /Kabar/. Today, April 22, as part of an official visit to Manama, President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Zhaparov met with Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Bahrain Hassan Khalifa Al-Jalakhma.
The press service of the head of state said that during the meeting they discussed prospects for deepening bilateral cooperation in the financial and banking sector, including attracting investments and implementing joint projects.
Sadyr Zhaparov noted that the Kingdom of Bahrain today serves as an example of effective economic and financial policy and is a recognized banking center of the Middle East and the region.
The head of state emphasized that the banking system of Kyrgyzstan is also at the development stage, and the republic has already created a legislative framework for conducting banking activities according to Islamic principles.
Taking into account the growing demand of the population for Islamic banking services, Sadyr Zhaparov proposed to consider the possibility of opening a new Islamic commercial bank in Kyrgyzstan with the participation of the Bahraini side.
The head of state noted that the implementation of this project will cover the business sector of Central Asia with a population of more than 80 million people and over time can lead to the creation of the largest bank in the region operating according to Islamic principles.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Bahrain Hassan Khalifa Al-Jalahma emphasized that he attaches special importance to the visit of President Sadyr Zhaparov and expressed full readiness to deepen cooperation with the National Bank and other financial institutions of the country. In this context, Hassan Khalifa Al-Jalahma noted that the Central Bank of Bahrain has created all the necessary conditions for improving the qualifications of specialists in the banking sector and expressed readiness to provide training opportunities for Kyrgyz specialists. He also noted that the Central Bank of Bahrain intends to carefully study the proposal to establish an Islamic financial institution in Kyrgyzstan, approve a cooperation program with the National Bank and begin implementing joint projects. At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed confidence in the broad prospects of Kyrgyz-Bahraini relations and emphasized their readiness to deepen mutually beneficial partnership.