Revitalising growth: Islamic Project Finance to energise infrastructure development

The event, which was attended by more than 200 industry leaders, featured keynote addresses from leading industry experts. The topical focus set the tone for discussions with H.E Yousef Hussain Kamal, the Minister of Economy & Finance for the State of Qatar, addressing the role that Islamic project finance can play in meeting infrastructure investment needs. In his keynote address, His Excellency pointed out that at the heart of revitalising economic growth was sound infrastructure development.

Sheikh Ali Mohieddin Al-Qurrah Daghi, leading Shari'ah scholar, emphasised the growing role of Sukuk in project finance. In addition, R. Seetharaman, Chief Executive Officer of Doha Bank, pinpointed some key opportunities and challenges in Islamic finance.

During the many interactive sessions, the conference delegates agreed that the 4th Annual WIIFC 2009 was even more critical this year as the industry is currently seeking insights into new directions and trends in the aftermath of the global economic crisis. There was a cautious sense of optimism that the global recessionary environment was now beginning to stabilize and the conference speakers made a resounding call to the industry players to confront these challenges as well as to take advantage of the new landscape of opportunities currently emerging.

Entrepreneurship in the Islamic world, the application of Islamic Finance to PPP, and re-assessing the role and significance of risk management were also discussed at length during WIIFC 2009.

The conference was also structured to allow unrivalled networking opportunities as well as informal discussions and debates for more than 200 regional and global industry leaders who attended the event.