RIYADH: The Madinah Governorate under Gov. Prince Faisal bin Salman will be hosting the 25th international conference of the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) on May 4. Officially sponsored by the Capital Market Authority (CMA), the conference will focus on the theme of “The Islamic Finance Industry, 40 Years Since Inception: Revaluation of the Experience and the Way Forward."

Speaking at a press conference at the Four Seasons Hotel in RIyadh on Sunday, Sheikh Ebrahim bin Khalifah Al-Khalifa, chairman of the AAOIFI’s Board of Trustees and Bahrain’s former Minister of Housing said: “The AAOIFI has turned 25 years old, and has emerged as an autonomous nonprofit organization for the global Islamic Finance Industry, and as a key leader in the area of international conference conventions and organization with respect to the Islamic Finance Industry.”

“The AAOIFI has remained keen to continue the organisation of an international Islamic finance and economics conference in Madinah, with the first conference being established by a Royal Order 25 years ago. The conference will feature a range of speakers and participants, a distinguished host of senior officials, lead thinkers, prominent scholars, and experts from the Islamic finance industry from around the globe," Al-Khalifa said.

“As four decades have passed since the Islamic finance industry first came into existence, the time is right for the AAOIFI, armored with a vast arsenal of experience and reliability, to spearhead an initiative aiming to revisit the history of the Islamic finance industry in order to evaluate its experience and come to terms with its opportunities for improvement,” Dr. Hamed Hassan Merah, secretary general of the AAOIFI, added.

This conference will address a number of important topics thanks to a distinguished group of scholars and experts, including a selection of discussion panels hosting early pioneers and entrepreneurs who left their fingerprints on the industry. Since their times, these fingerprints have been converted to blueprints, turning their aspirations into realities.

This conference aims to revisit and document the beginnings and early stages of the industry, and to evaluate the current reality through the lens of these early pioneers, with the overarching objective of preserving this great chronicle of Islamic financial heritage before it is too late.

These sessions will be moderated through direct dialogue with guests in line with preset topics, and then the floor will be opened to the audience to directly discuss their questions with the speakers.

Secretary General Merah also lauded the immense support given by the Emirate of Madinah Al-Munawwarah and the Capital Market Authority toward the success of the conference, and in terms of bringing it into global prominence as a major professional event.