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Manama: Bahrain-based Ithmaar Bank, on Monday announced the launch of the $1 billion Ithmaar Kazyna CIS Energy Fund, in partnership with Kazyna Capital Management, a subsidiary of Kazakhstan's Sustainable Fund, Kazyna.
The fund, expected to have a term of 10 years, will target Kazakhstan's and the Commonwealth of Independent States' (CIS) burgeoning need for investment in the energy-related sectors, and is expected to act as the catalyst for capital investment of up to $10 billion.
The fund was announced by Ithmaar Bank CEO and member of the board, Michael P. Lee and Kazyna chairman. "Ithmaar Bank's vision to become the premier financial services group, operating globally from the Middle East, has seen us explore avenues for growth in emerging markets the world over. Our partnership with Kazyna marks our entry into the CIS countries, where the abundance of natural energy resources in the Caspian Basin is driving foreign direct investment into the developing economies of Kazakhstan and many of its neighbouring countries," said Lee.
With reserves of 39.6 million barrels of oil, Kazakh-stan currently holds 3.3 per cent of the world's proven oil resources.
The government of Kazakhstan, embarking on an ambitious plan to double oil production and triple natural gas output by 2015. The economy of Kazakhstan grew by 8.5 per cent last year; with the country experiencing an annual economic growth of between eight and ten percent year on year since 2001. The investment portfolio of Kazyna, the investment arm of the government of Kazakhstan, increased five times, from $1.2 billion as of January 2005 to $5.2 billion as of July 2007.
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