The 10th Anniversary special edition World Islamic Financial and Funds Markets Conference (WIFFMC 2014), which opened today at the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain, saw more than 420 leaders, regulators and thought leaders in the global Islamic funds and investment industry engage in critical discussions that focused on “Broadening the Base of Investors and Issuers: Building Scale and Broadening Horizons of Islamic Investments”.
The two day event, held under the official support of Central Bank of Bahrain, commenced today with an inaugural address by Abdul Rahman Mohammed Al Baker, Executive Director – Financial Institutions Supervision, Central Bank of Bahrain; and this address was followed by a keynote speech by Dr. Khaled Al Fakih, Secretary – General and CEO, Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). The inaugural session addressed key regulatory reform initiatives to improve stability, build scale and expand the horizons for Islamic investments and Mr Al Baker noted that:
“The potential for the Islamic Investment market is both significant and exciting. Sustaining the rapid pace of growth achieved over the past several years hinges on creating the conditions that will enable industry players to build scale and support efforts to further broaden the geographic reach – allowing the industry to attract new international Shari’ah-compliant investment flows as well as new capital market issuers. Today, the industry has grown to become an increasingly substantial segment within the global financial markets and has gained significant attention as a viable and efficient alternative model of financial intermediation. Increasingly, more countries are looking to tap into Islamic finance as the industry continues to evolve and market players should act to meet this growing need on a global stage.”
The inaugural session was followed by a keynote address by Hasan AlJabri the CEO of SEDCO Capital which discussed the role played by international hubs which are creating new opportunities for the expansion of Islamic investments. Mr. AlJabri commented that “the Shari’ah-compliant investment industry has faced many challenges in the past, some from the supply side (where there was lack of supply of choice and diversity in the products offered) and in the demand side where investors were under the impression that Shari’ah products don’t provide similar returns or diversity as conventional products.” Mr. AlJabri noted, however, that “as new markets continue to develop infrastructure supportive of Islamic funds, the next phase of growth for the Islamic investments industry will be boosted by new international opportunities for the industry to build scale and broaden geographic horizons – and thus will provide many new investment opportunities for the Islamic investor in jurisdictions like Luxembourg that provide the ideal environment to build a platform to cater to these needs. Increasing access to international investor pools by offering a diverse range of products will enable the industry to generate economies of scale and further provide investors with viable and cost-effective alternatives to conventional funds.”
A major highlight of WIFFMC 2014 was the high-profile CEO and Industry Leaders’ Power Debate, which focused on attracting more international investors to Islamic financial markets. This high-powered and interactive debate session featured insightful contributions from Hasan AlJabri, CEO of SEDCO Capital; Suryono Darnor, Director and Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Middle East BSC; Najla Al Shirawi, Chief Executive Officer, Securities and Investment Company (SICO); and Dr. Ataf Ahmed, Managing Director, Asset Management, QInvest. The debate addressed new approaches to grow the global investor base in Islamic financial markets and overcome challenges of the cross-border distribution and competitiveness of Islamic funds
Day two of the 10th Anniversary World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference (WIFFMC 2014) continues on Tuesday the 20th of May and opens with a keynote address by Ijlal Ahmed Alvi, the Chief Executive Officer of the International Islamic Financial Market (IIFM). Day 2 of the conference will feature significant discussions on assessing new initiatives to improve international standardisation across Islamic capital markets and legal and risk management priorities to better globally connect Islamic capital markets.