Saeed Haider
MANAMA — Bankers, ministers, businessmen, bureaucrats, investors and entrepreneurs from around the globe gathered at the Gulf Hotel here today to set the road map for the future progress of Islamic finance under the banner of World Islamic Banking Conference hosted by the Middle East Global Advisor in Cooperation with the Central Bank of Bahrain.
Rasheed Al Maraj, the governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, formally inaugurated the 22nd Annual World Islamic Banking Conference on behalf of Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa at Gulf Hotel. The participants of the conference initiated their sessions and one-on-one meetings since yesterday. But formal session was inaugurated today.
Considered as the leading compass for the Islamic finance industry, the 3-day event will see the participation of over 1,200 leaders of the industry from Europe, East Asia, Middle East and North Africa. The discussions will focus on the future progress of Islamic finance, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary since its launch.
In the morning session the conference hosted no less than 4 central bank governors and deputy governors, who addressed the session and later participants held a discussion. The governors and deputy governors included the governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, Rasheed Al Maraj, the executive president of the Central Bank of Oman, Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali, deputy governor of the State Bank of Pakistan, Riaz Riazuddin and the deputy governor of the National Bank of Kazakhstan, Nurlan Kussainov.
Bahraini Central Bank Gov. Al-Maraj, in his address disclosed “The centralized Shariah board for Bahrain has been given wide authority to direct the innovation in Bahrain’s Islamic finance sector.” Bahrain is renowned as a global Islamic finance hub, coming second in Thomson Reuters’ Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI), reflecting its healthy ecosystem as the country seeks to increase the proportion of assets being managed from its jurisdiction.
The Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman, Hamood Sangour Al-Zadjali believed that the Islamic finance industry will benefit from and lead a wider socioeconomic development once an operational framework is set up.
Notable among the participants were central bank dignitaries from Turkey, Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Oman, Pakistan, Sudan, South Africa and Indonesia, as well as senior officials from Abu Dhabi Global Market, Dubai International Financial Center Authority, Qatar Financial Centre Authority, Toronto Financial Services Alliance, Luxembourg for Finance and the Ministry of Finance & Treasury of the Republic of Maldives.
Later prominent bankers, investors and entrepreneurs reviewed the performance and achievements as well as shortfall during the 40-year-old history of Islamic banking. They assessed its growth, impact and achievements as well as discussed what the future road map should look like.
Some leading luminaries of Islamic finance like Nurlan Kussainov, Datuk Professor Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim, CEO of International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation (IILM), Noor Abid, board member of Kuwait Finance House Group, Dato Professor Azmi Omar, director general, Islamic Research and Training Institute, Islamic Development Bank and Dr. Sayd Farook, vice chairman & CEO of Middle East Global Advisors, addressed the core question of how the current system can converge with its original proposition
The other speakers included experts like Stephen Vineburg, CEO of ASMA Capital Partners, renowned Islamic economist Dr. Mohamed Elgari, Talal Yassine, managing director at Crescent Wealth, Michael McMillen, global head of Islamic Finance & Investment at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle.
