Dubai has appointed the local Noor Investment Group to conduct a feasibility study into setting up a state-backed export-import (Exim) bank that will help support trade in and out of the UAE.

The proposed Dubai Exim will support UAE businesses to export goods by providing risk mitigation tools and financing, according to an official statement from the Dubai Department of Economic Development.

The bank is expected to be one of the first sharia-compliant banks of its kind in the world, and is intended to further cement Dubai as a regional trade hub.

Dubai is planning to follow several other countries that already have well-established exim banks helping their companies win overseas contracts through providing forms of state-backed insurance and funding.

Korea’s Exim and US Exim are just two of these types of institutions that are highly active within the Middle East, often supporting imports related to the region’s infrastructure projects.