The Philippine government is planning to issue Shariah-compliant bonds, or sukuk, for the first time in the predominantly Catholic nation in order to finance a number of infrastructure programs and generally raise investment from the oil-rich Middle East.
For example, Qatar and the Philippines in 2012 agreed to set up a $1bn investment fund that would focus on projects in agriculture, energy, halal food, labour, mining, petrochemicals, real estate, steel, tourism, trade and infrastructure development.
Great Britain, South Africa, Hong Kong and Luxembourg all have recently entered the race of issuing Shariah bonds as the first non-Muslim countries to do so.
