A working paper presented at the first Business Forum on Islamic Finance here focuses on finance as bridge between Arab and Western worlds. Al-Khabeer, a leading Shariah-compliant investment bank that operates in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, has been invited to participate as the only private company from the Arab world in the first-ever Business Forum on Islamic Finance, organized by the IE Business School, one of the top ranked business schools in Europe in collaboration with the King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah. The forum, which was held on Wednesday at the IE Business School in Madrid was attended by a powerful gathering of decision makers from the Spanish and Latin American business communities. Al Khabeer Merchant Finance Corporation in Saudi Arabia and its sister company Al-Khabeer International in Bahrain was invited by its Executive Director Amar Shata to attend the forum to present a working paper on Islamic finance outside the Islamic world, focusing on its impact in strengthening ties between the Arab and Western worlds. Shata explored the trials and challenges of building bridges between the two cultures and offered strategies and ideas that will help enhance Islamic banking products become closer to the true values of Islam. “The forum will be an excellent venue to identify new growth opportunities and discuss business prospects with potential partners from Spain and Latin America. Moreover, Al-Khabeer intends to underline the strategic benefits of Islamic finance and help interested corporate organizations better understand the concepts behind Shariah-compliant banking,” said Shata.The Business Forum on Islamic Finance offers an unprecedented opportunity for Al-Khabeer to interact with key decision makers from the Spanish and Latin American business communities who are interested to learn about Islamic finance and its impact in rebuilding the international financial landscape, particularly in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Islamic Finance Summit Eight central bank governors have confirmed their participation in the 6th Islamic Financial Services Board Summit (IFSB) on May 5-8 in Singapore. The governors are from Bahrain, Jordan, Korea, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and the UAE. Themed, “The Future of Islamic Financial Services”, the core aim of the summit is to highlight the role of the various stakeholders towards developing a robust future for the Islamic financial services industry (IFSI). “While the current IFSI structure is considered sufficient to support the industry's development, it is necessary to examine whether it will continue to be relevant, to cater to the future growth and expansion,” IFSB Secretary-General Rifaat Abdel Karim said. “More importantly, it is whether the industry can remain competitive and continue to uphold its resilience and stability as the services and products offered expand and stakeholders become increasingly sophisticated,” he added.
