based Islamic retail bank, announced Tuesday its support for a major international Islamic banking conference that will be held in Bahrain later this year. The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), which will be hosted in strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, will focus the global Islamic banking spotlight on Bahrain when the world's leading Islamic banking experts meet, on Dec. 5- 7, to review the latest issues and share insight into current trends. "The annual event, now in its twenty-third year, is widely recognized as one of the most important events on the global Islamic banking calendar," said Ithmaar Bank Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Abdul Rahim. "This provides a valuable opportunity to showcase Bahrain's contributions to the global Islamic banking industry," he said. "Ithmaar Bank has been a long-standing supporter of this key annual conference, and we remain as committed as ever to playing a key role in promoting Bahrain's banking and finance industry," said Abdul Rahim. "Our continued support for the WIBC is in line with our long-standing commitment to playing a real and meaningful role in supporting the development of Bahrain's banking and finance industry. It is a commitment we take very serious and, as a pioneering Islamic retail bank, we recognize the importance of the role we must play in supporting the Islamic finance industry in Bahrain," he said. "In particular, we believe we must contribute to reinforcing Bahrain's position as a key banking hub, particularly on the Islamic banking and finance arena," said Abdul Rahim. "The WIBC, with the strategic partnership of the CBB, has significantly enhanced the importance of this event and we are pleased to be part of this major global event," he said. "Ithmaar Bank is committed to becoming one of the region's premier Islamic retail banks," said Abdul Rahim. "To do so, we invest heavily in continuously developing our products and services, on expanding our retail banking network, and on improving our customers' Islamic banking experience," he said. "We made tremendous achievements in terms of growing closer to our customers, and are now one of the largest retail banking networks in Bahrain. Participating in major global events like the WIBC however provides a unique opportunity to benchmark our performance against the world's Islamic banking industry. It is an opportunity to share both insights and experiences with the world's best, and use these to drive further growth," said Abdul Rahim. "This, in turn, will allow Ithmaar Bank to deliver a better Islamic banking experience to its customers and, ultimately, better value to its shareholders," he said.
