Jacqueline Loh
Wai Yin of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, delivered the inaugural
Keynote Address at the 6th annual World Islamic Banking Conference:
Asia Summit
Singapore, 3 June 2015: Islamic
banking and finance powerhouses from Asia and the Middle East gathered
today at Asia’s largest and most influential Islamic finance forum in
one of Asia’s leading financial hubs, Singapore. The World Islamic
Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia), organized by Middle East Global Advisors (MEGA) with the official support of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS),
became a host to 500 leading industry players, thought leaders and key
regulators in the international and regional Islamic finance industry.
The prime focus of the conference was transforming strategies to
revitalize growth in the Islamic banking sector and developing the next
phase of progress for Islamic finance in Asia.
A pre-conference
industry seminar was hosted by the Bahrain-based International Islamic
Financial Markets (IIFM) on the 2nd of June 2015 at the Pan Pacific
Hotel, Singapore. The event was hosted by MAS and was attended by more
than 100 participants from institutions active in Islamic finance in
Singapore and the region.
The seminar’s
proceedings was led by an exceptional line of experienced and respected
industry practitioners who assembled from various jurisdictions to
provide valuable insight into the key elements of Sukuk, Islamic
hedging/risk mitigation, liquidity management and on-exchange products.
The seminar also provided more awareness and better understanding of
legal, operational and Shariah aspects of IIFM standard agreements.
Mr. Ijlal Alvi, CEO of
IIFM, called for the need of bringing uniformity and Shariah
harmonization in the growing Islamic finance industry, which he stated
can be facilitated by industry support of the IIFM in its efforts of
developing standardized financial contracts and product templates in the
area of Islamic capital & money market, corporate finance and trade
finance.
WIBC Asia 2015 opened its conference officially today with an impactful Keynote Address by Jacqueline Loh Wai Yin, Deputy Managing Director of the central banking functions of Monetary Policy, and Markets and Investments at MAS.
A veteran of the banking sector, Ms. Jacqueline emphasized the need to
build strong linkages between the Middle East and Asia and also shared
insights on new innovations and strategies for tapping growth
opportunities in these regions.
The forum
gathered a high profile ensemble of leaders that collaborated to project
a new road map for the Asian and the Middle Eastern Islamic finance
regions. The lineup of speakers included powerhouses such as H.E. Saeed Abdullah Al Hamiz (Assistant Governor for Banking Supervision, Central Bank of the U.A.E), Dato' Tajuddin Atan (Chief Executive Officer, Bursa Malaysia Berhad), Afaq Khan (Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Saadiq), Ijlal Ahmed Alvi (CEO, International Financial Market (IIFM), Dr. Sayd Farook (Global Head of Islamic Capital Markets, Thomson Reuters) and Dr. Adnan Chilwan (Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Islamic Bank), among others.
The WIBC Asia
Exhibition was held along the side-lines of the conference and showcased
the latest products, services and innovations from exhibitors
representing leading industry organisations.
This year, MEGA have teamed up with the Arab world’s leading news provider, Al Arabiya, which as the Exclusive Media Partner will cover the industry’s flagship event.
The 2nd day of WIBC Asia continues on the 4th of June and will witness the highly anticipated onstage interview of Dr. Adnan Chilwan, Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Islamic Bank by Dr. Sayd Farook, Global Head Islamic Capital Markets, Thomson Reuters.
Speaking ahead
of the event, Dr. Farook shared that “Islamic finance is growing across
the world and is projected to grow even more prominently in Asia. There
are now more than 980 Islamic financial institutions operating across more than 80 countries
and the sector is only expected to keep expanding strongly. With Asia's
young population and burgeoning infrastructure needs exceeding $8 trillion,
Islamic finance is well poised to be the catalyst that powers the Asian
century if it can harness the pools of Shariah sensitive capital across
the Islamic world.”
As such, Dr.
Farook added: “I am looking forward to an engaging and open discussion
with the youngest chief executive officer of the oldest Islamic Bank in
the world (Dubai Islamic Bank) on how Islamic finance and indeed Gulf
capital can play a major role in the Asian century."
Day two will also feature high-profile sessions that include the launch of the 2015 Thomson Reuters Global Islamic Asset Management Outlook Report, as well as engaging panels and speeches on an exhaustive list of issues, including on:
- Boosting business ties between Asia and the Middle East
- Islamic finance facilitating broader financial inclusion
- Challenges to forming a National Shari’ah Board
- New emerging jurisdictions such as Hong Kong and the U.K.
