KUALA LUMPUR, 8 May 2006 — Human resources development is a major bottleneck for developing economies, weighed down by a lack of educational infrastructure and, in many instances, the necessary resources. In the field of banking, for instance, there are serious deficiencies in producing the next generation of banking professionals. It is more pronounced in the nascent global Islamic banking and finance sector.
The initiative launched recently by Bank Negara, the Malaysian central bank, shows much promise in tackling this problem in a systemic way. At a ceremony in March 2006 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Premier Abdullah Badawi in the presence of his predecessor Dr. Mahathir Mohamad; Malaysian Higher Education Minister Mustapa Mohamed; Bank Negara governor, Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz; and Islamic Development Bank President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, launched the International Center for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), which is based in Kuala Lumpur.
To back its commitment, Bank Negara has allocated RM500 million in an endowment fund (Waqf), income which will be used to finance the operations of INCEIF. Last year, Bank Negara established a RM200 million endowment fund aimed at bringing together Shariah scholars from various countries to finance research in Islamic financial product development; to fund scholarships for studies in Fiqh Al-Muamalat (Islamic law relating to financial transactions); to establish further education training programs for existing Shariah scholars; and to provide a platform for dialogue between scholars from various countries.
Similarly, Bank Negara established a RM500 million endowment to set up the International Center for Leadership in Finance (ICLF), which aims to promote the development of world-class leaders in finance, including Islamic finance, through various best practice programs aimed at CEOs and senior management executives.
Zeti stresses that the establishment of INCEIF “represents an investment in human capital to support the global development of the Islamic financial services industry. Human intellectual capital plays a pivotal role in driving the performance and market competitiveness of the industry.
“Going forward, it will be the defining factor. The fast pace of innovation in global financial services in general and in the Islamic financial services sector in particular, will demand new expertise and skills. The objective of INCEIF is to produce high-caliber practitioners and professionals in Islamic finance as well as specialists and researchers in the disciplines of Islamic finance.”
INCEIF, whose board of directors is chaired by Zeti, arguably the most proactive of central bank governors in the Muslim countries, will start its inaugural courses in June 2006 with the first intake of students for the Certified Islamic Finance Professional (CIFP) program, which Bank Negara claims is “the world’s first certification on Islamic finance.”
The main challenge for INCEIF, apart from the human capital one, would be to bridge the Islamic banking divide between Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
