Dubai: Global Islamic Finance Report (GIFR) 2017, the oldest yearbook in Islamic banking and finance, was launched yesterday in Fairmont The Palm, Dubai by Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre.
According to GIFR 2017, the estimated figure for the global Islamic financial industry in 2016 is US$2.293 trillion after recording a growth of 7%. This, however, is the third consecutive year that the industry has registered a single digit growth and the fourth consecutive year that the growth rate has been on a declining trend. In his presentation, Professor Humayon Dar, Chairman of Edbiz Consulting and Managing Editor, said, “the slow-down in growth is attributed to a number of factors, including political conflicts in a number of Muslim countries, particularly in the Middle East, historically low-oil prices, which have affected the countries in the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) and others where IBF is a major component of the financial markets; receding enthusiasm of Western financial institutions towards Islamic banking and finance and maturity of Islamic banking and finance in key markets like the GCC and Malaysia is leading to natural slow down”.
Sohail Jaffer, Deputy CEO of FWU Group, Othman Abdullah, Managing Director of Silverlake Malaysia and Daan Elffers, CEO of Islamic Reporting Initiative (IRI) were panellists in a high-powered discussion on leadership in Islamic banking and finance. They concluded that Islamic banking and finance could only be developed into a leadership role if a wider Islamic economic perspective is made relevant to the industry. In this respect, Sohail Jaffer praised the vision of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Rule of Dubai to make Dubai as a capital for the global Islamic economy. Professor Humayon Dar appreciated the role of Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre in promoting Dubai as a global centre of excellence for Islamic economy.
The report, which was released for the eighth consecutive year, carries the central of theme “Leadership in Islamic Banking and Finance”. The GIFR 2017 identifies the most influential countries in Islamic banking and finance, top institutions and leading individuals, and the most successful Islamic financial products. It benefits from extensive research and analyses conducted by Edbiz Consulting and Cambridge IF Analytica, along with inputs, perspectives and feedback from some of the top industry leaders.
The GIFR 2017 also reported its latest ranking of about 50 countries of the world in terms of their leadership role in Islamic banking and finance. The Islamic Finance Country Index (IFCI) is the oldest such index developed by Edbiz Consulting in 2010 and first published in the second edition of GIFR in 2011.
Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) was the official host of the launching ceremony. The GIFR 2017 was commissioned by Dubai Islamic Bank, and has been produced with the support of Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD), DDCAP, Bursa Malaysia and Bank of Khartoum. The launch ceremony partners included ADCB Islamic and FWU Group.
Source: Pakistan Observer