JEDDAH — Almarai Company received Best International Sukuk Program 2019 award, one of the Global Islamic Finance Awards “GIFA” prize at a ceremony held in Cape Town, South Africa.

Almarai launched the first international issuance of its Sukuk last February. Demand exceeded 10 folds of issuance amount, which was $500m. This is the biggest purchase demand received by a Saudi company.

Almarai’s Sukuk is the first US$ Sukuk issued by a food and beverage company in the GCC countries. It is also the first international issuance of Sukuk by a Saudi company at high credit valuation.

The GIFA awards is a prestigious awards program in banking services and Islamic finance created by the Government of Malaysia in 2017 to promote the Islamic finance institutions internationally. — SG