Symposium explores prospects of Islamic banking

A symposium has recently explored the future of Islamic banking in light of regional, Arab, Islamic and international experiences.
The seminar was organized by the Center of Banking Studies and Islamic Finance (CBSIF), an affiliate of King Fahad University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM).
The symposium was aimed at exploring views on the future of Islamic banking industry in light of the current situation and how to develop the industry, Head of the CBSIF Dr. Salah Al-Shalhoub said.
He said the CBSIF has reviewed experiences of Arab and Islamic countries in this context adding that KFUPM has entrusted the CBSIF to provide all necessary studies and knowledge in this area.
For his part, Islamic finance expert Sami Al-Suwailim said the ndustry began in a normal rhythm within the world economic move.
The financial crisis. which occurred in 2008, had however exposed the complexity and interdependency of world economies.
He said the crisis negatively affected all economies, a matter that led the experts to reconsider the whole financial industry and rectify the inherent defects.
The crisis, meanwhile, earned the Islamic finance exceptional attention at country, governmental, corporate and individual levels, including non-Muslims.
Accordingly, the Islamic banking system, which used to design products on purely Islamic basis, began to expand these products to meet requirements of customers who felt more secured about their investments, not only in terms of finance but also from Shariah perspective, he said.
The new products will enhance confidence between the Islamic banking system and customers, he said.
The symposium reviewed a number of issues such as employment, shift from short-term into long-term funding institutions, unification of Shariah-based references in these institutions, conduction of specialized training courses for those working in the sector, and cooperation between scientific chairs in universities and Islamic financial institutions.