KUWAIT: In its latest effort to play a proactive role in advancing the retail, corporate and investment banking sector across the region, Burgan Bank sponsored the Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East 2025 event alongside market leaders, including S&P Global, Fitch, JP Morgan, and numerous others. Considered the largest of its kind in the Middle East, the two-day conference attracted more than 75 expert speakers and over 1,800 senior capital market professionals, from government officials to corporate executives, investors, bankers, legal consultants, regulators, and service providers, including 80 percent of all regional issuers in 2024/2025.

Burgan Bank’s renewed sponsorship of this event confirms its steadfast commitment to advancing as a trusted financial partner with a growing portfolio of investment banking services tailored to the market’s varying needs and aligned with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.

In this regard, Abdullah Abdulmajeed Marafie, General Manager –Treasury & Financial Institutions at Burgan Bank, underscored the importance of sponsoring events as vital as Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East, which aligns with the Bank’s strategic pillars of strengthening Kuwait’s business and re-allocating assets through growing and diversifying Burgan Bank’s corporate profile, fortifying its liquidity and risk profiles, as well as reinvesting and seeking growth opportunities in new markets.

A snapshot from one of the panel discussions.

Burgan Bank's team introducing event participants to the Bank’s products and services.

Abdullah Abdulmajeed Marafie, GM – Treasury & Financial Institutions at Burgan Bank

Mohamed Najeeb Al Zanki, GM – Corporate Banking at Burgan Bank

In addition, Burgan Bank’s continued success at financing local and international government and government-related entities, as well as banks and financial institutions, echoes its funding strategy aimed at developing a diversified funding base to achieve sustainable growth and, in turn, contributing to the “New Kuwait 2035” development plan with a core focus on sustainability and sustainable, ethical investment.

On his part, Mohamed Najeeb Al-Zanki, General Manager – Corporate Banking at Burgan Bank, said: “Kuwait continues to grow as a destination for ambitious foreign investors seeking to expand their presence and be part of the momentous development that’s reshaping the region. Thanks to Burgan Bank’s expanding suite of corporate banking services and products, we are able to facilitate large-scale foreign investments that continue to drive positive change to our local infrastructure and most vital sectors.”

“At Burgan Bank, we recognize that success in corporate and investment banking is driven by strong connections across countries and markets. Events like Bonds, Loans & Sukuk Middle East play a pivotal role in fostering these connections, providing a platform to deepen relationships and stay at the forefront of industry evolution. Through our sponsorship of such events, we gain timely insights into global and regional financial landscapes, which are essential to shaping a competitive advantage and central to our continued growth as a trusted partner for foreign institutions and corporate clients,” he added.

This year, the conference addressed several pressing topics, beginning with “MENA in 2025/26: Navigating Global Economic Shifts and Regional Challenges” and moving on to “The Issuer Perspective: Financing Strategies from the Region’s Leading Corporates”; “Unlocking Growth and Global Potential in Islamic Finance”; and “The evolution of loan syndications in the Middle East: Balancing pricing, sustainability, and competition”, among other market-defining conversations.

It’s worth noting that Burgan Bank continues to focus on two key strategic goals within its overall business strategy: diversifying and growing its corporate portfolio whilst investing in expanding and leveraging its retail business. On the corporate front, the Bank has recently achieved several notable feats on the investment and financing fronts, including its acquisition of a 100 percent stake in United Gulf Bank BSC (UGB), a wholesale banking licensed in Bahrain with an ‘Islamic window’, in addition to signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Korea Finance for Construction (KFINCO), making Burgan Bank the sole representative bank in Kuwait for the South Korean co-op institution. Earlier successes also include the Bank’s issuance of KD 150 million Perpetual Additional Tier 1 Capital Bonds, which were met with higher-than-anticipated demand, leading to oversubscription and confirming strong investor interest in the Bank’s offerings.