Putrajaya, Wednesday June 22, 2005 – Within a short span of three decades, the Islamic financial services have reached an estimated USD250-billion. Despite lacking comprehensive international regulatory and policy supports compared to its conventional counterparts, the industry has rapidly grown from strength to strength at an estimated rate of 15% per annum.
To spearhead the initiative to formulate a Master Plan that can guide the industry players in meeting the challenges in the next decade, the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) jointly organised the Seminar on 10-Year Master Plan for the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI).
Facilitated by Bank Negara Malaysia, the Seminar took place in Putrajaya, Malaysia’s administrative capital, on 22 June 2005. It was one of the events held alongside the 30th Annual Meeting of IDB Board of Governors, which this year is hosted by Malaysia.
The IFSB’s Secretary-General, Professor Rifaat said, “The Seminar aimed to gather inputs for outlining what the future directions of the Islamic financial services industry should be in the form of a 10-year Master Plan. We hope players in each segment of the Islamic financial services industry – including banking, insurance and capital market – will support the formulation of such roadmap and share it as a common agenda in consolidating our efforts to bring the Islamic financial services industry to its next level of development.”
H.E. Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Prime Minister of Malaysia, officiated the opening of the Seminar which drew an audience of 400 industry players, regulators and supervisors from around the world. The Seminar proceedings started with opening remarks given by H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank, followed with a keynote address by H.E Dato’ Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Among the highly reputable speakers and discussants who participated in the Seminar are; H.E. Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia; H.E. Dr. Sabir Mohamed Hassan, Governor, Bank of Sudan; H.E. Sheikh Saleh A. Kamel, Chairman, General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions; H.E. Dr. Bassel Hindawi, Director General, Insurance Commission of Jordan; H.E. Dr. Tariq Hassan, Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan; H.E. Tan Sri Md. Nor Md. Yusof, Chairman, Securities Commission, Malaysia; H.E. Burhanuddin Abdullah Governor, Bank Indonesia; and Anwar Khalifa Ebrahim Al-Sadah, Executive Director, Bahrain Monetary Agency.
The Seminar featured four sessions: (1) Banking & Finance; (2) Takaful (Islamic Insurance); (3) Islamic Capital Market; and (4) Financial Architecture.
*Note to Editor
The IFSB was officially inaugurated on 3 November 2002. It serves as an international standard setting body of regulatory and supervisory agencies with vested interest to ensure the soundness and stability of the Islamic financial services industry, broadly defined to include banking, capital market and insurance. In advancing its mission, the IFSB will promote the development of a prudent and transparent Islamic financial services industry through introducing new, or adapting existing international standards consistent with Sharī`ah rules and principles, and recommend them for adoption.
