SARAJEVO: Malaysia has been asked to venture into Islamic banking in Bosnia and Herzegovina due to the rising interest in such products and services. 
Amer Bukvic of Bosna Bank International, made an impassioned plea to Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to encourage Malaysian banks to capitalise on their expertise in Islamic financial banking and invest here. 
He said Europe’s big financial groups were slowly moving towards that direction but they did not have the expertise and experience compared with Malaysia. 
“This is where Malaysia has the edge. You should move fast to benefit from the increasing interest in Islamic banking,” he said during a question and answer session with the Prime Minister during the Malaysia-Bosnia and Herzegovina Business Forum on Thursday.  
Apart from Islamic banking, issues including terrorism, barter trade and even health spa products were raised during Abdullah’s dialogue with more than 700 Malaysian and Bosnian businessmen and captains of industry. 
Bukvic, who is chief executive officer of the first Islamic bank in Bosnia and Herzegovina said Malaysia was, in fact, indirectly represented in the country as his bank was established by the Islamic Development Bank, whose owners include the Malaysian Government.