JEDDAH, 9 March 2005 — Openness and expansion will be the watchwords of the International Islamic Finance Forum which will bring together pioneering international policymakers, business leaders, and leading Islamic scholars for debates in Dubai next week.
Attracting over 50 speakers and 400 delegates from around the world, the forum has become the most important networking event in the global calendar of the multibillion dollar Islamic finance sector.
Dubai is now home to some of the leading Islamic finance deal managers — both at regional and international levels — with a huge $3.3 billion worth of business undertaken last year alone.
Forum Director Chris Mullinger said: “The expansion of the Islamic finance industry witnessed around the world is a direct result of Muslims - as individuals and corporate bodies — demonstrating strong and distinctive financial needs. Global deposits in Islamic banking are estimated to be in excess of $202 billion worldwide with an average growth of between 10 and 20 percent predicted.
“The global facts surrounding the Islamic finance sector are truly astounding with Islamic bonds currently estimated at around $30 billion and remain the ‘hot issue’ in Islamic finance. There are around 270 Islamic banks worldwide with a market capitalization in excess of $13 billion. Combine this with the asset figures of those banks — the estimation is that this figure accounts to $265 billion with investments topping $400 billion.”
Major strides have been made in widening the scope of Islamically acceptable consumer finance products around the world.
An international array of panelists will examine the fast developing Takaful market. This debate will include the examination of Takaful funds, technical and accounting issues and the growth of Islamic life insurance and Bancassurance.
Many believe that the growth of Islamic finance is limited only by imagination and that the world is now witnessing an historical opportunity to further develop the Shariah-compliant industry.
Today, the Islamic finance industry globally is managing well over half a trillion US dollars and yet, it must not become complacent if it is to meet the constant challenge of competition.
The forum will confront some of the most important challenges facing the Islamic finance industry.
The role of the regulators, exchanges and industry organizations in the West and in Muslim countries will be examined from a practitioner’s perspective and the issues of media perceptions, transparency and disclosure will be explored.
The specially-convened Leaders Table will form the opening day curtainraiser for the forum. Taking part in the Leaders Table will be: Dr Habib Al Mulla, chairman of the Dubai Financial Services Authority; Iqbal Khan, CEO of the HSBC Amanah Finance; Ziad Makkawi, CEO of Dubai Bank and Adel Al-Shirawi, CEO of Tamweel Home Finance.
Throughout the three-day forum, which takes place at the J.W. Marriott Hotel, Dubai, from 13 to 15 March, many experts will seek to identify the keys to successful conversion to Islamic finance and examine the technologies that must be implemented to combat the competition.
Additionally, there will be a detailed look at how international and regional funds — including mutual, hedge, equity and alternatives have awakened latent demand in investors.
The Saudi Economic & Development Company will be headline sponsors at this years forum which is also held in association with Dow Jones Indexes.