The Islamic Economics Institute (IEI) of King Abdulaziz University concluded its first International Executive Education program in Islamic Finance on Wednesday.

The four-day program witnessed the participation of a host of international experts including, Jose Diaz, a lawyer working at Marmon Abogados in Spain; Masato Imai, a joint general manager, financial planning and control at The Norinchkin Bank in Tokyo, Japan; Enrique Pena, chief of the cabinet of the President of RENFE in Span; and other specialists in the banking sector.

The speakers discussed and presented a range of topics related to Islamic financing, shedding light on Islamic banking and finance tools.

Ahmed Belouafi, researcher at IEI presented a paper on the mobilization of financial resources, while Celia Deanca gave an overview on Islamic financial banking and its future.

Sami Suwailem, director of the Center for Development of Financial Products, gave a presentation on “Islamic Finance: Basic Concepts in Designing New Islamic Finance Tools”. In his turn, Ibrahim Aboulola, discussed the relation between Shariah law and investment banking.

Mariano Aldama engaged the audience with a market forecast and informed attendees that the financial market is expected to exceed 2.5 trillion by 2017. He pointed out that Islamic assets have reached 1.8 trillion and the banking sector has maintained 78.9 percent of the assets.

Prior to the conclusion of the program, the visiting delegation of experts visited the Saudi Economic and Development Company (SEDCO), where Khalid Gama, managing director of business development, welcomed the participants to the company. SEDCO was the last leg of the program in which the attendees discussed the features of the GCC and European financial markets from legal aspects. Faisal Atabani, vice dean of IEI, moderated the program.

The panel comprised experts such as Nicholas Polley, vice-president and legal affairs at SEDCO, Josep Marshal, legal expert and partner at Cuatrecasas from Spain, Watson, legal expert at SEDCO, and Muneer Khan, partner Middle East Financial Markets and Islamic Finance at Simmons and Simmons LLP.

Watson, introduced the legal establishment in Saudi Arabia, and explained that the source of Saudi’s legal system is the Holy Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad’s Sunnah (p.b.u.h.). Muneer explained the technicalities of drafting legal documents and the intricacies involved.

Abdullah Turkistani, dean of Islamic Economics Institute, thanked all the participants and institutions that participated in the program and organizers for their dedicated work. He praised the efforts of Kaleem Alam, coordinator of the program and Ms. Karolina for making the program a success.

“Since this was the first such program to be conducted by our institute, this was indeed a good learning experience and there is immense room for future improvements,” said Alam.

Saudi artists concluded the program with cultural and traditional performances.