Royal patronage for Islamic finance's biggest event

His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is also the Defence Minister of the UAE, is providing his support to the International Islamic Finance Forum in Dubai next month - an event he has consistently backed since its inception in 2002.

The forum is now internationally recognised as "the premier event in Islamic finance" with close to 1,000 of the world's top Islamic finance practitioners from more than 40 countries attending the two forum events in Dubai and Istanbul in 2003.

The first forum of 2004 takes place from 7 to 9 March and the organisers predict it will be the biggest and most successful yet.

"The forum has its imitators, but in bringing together pioneering international policymakers, business leaders and the world's leading Islamic scholars for open and highly topical debates, it has no equal," said the Institute for International Research (IIR), the forum organisers.

"We are delighted and grateful, therefore, that, once again, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed has honoured the International Islamic Finance Forum with his patronage."

The international Islamic finance industry has been growing at a projected rate of 15% a year and is conservatively estimated to be worth something in excess of US$250 billion.

The Dubai 2004 forum has attracted high level international associations and sponsorships:
•The event is run in association with Dow Jones Indexes of the USA. The Islamic Market family of indexes is the broad DJ Islamic Market Index (DJIM-Global) with 1,600 plus companies with a market cap of $9 trillion.
•The Saudi Economic & Development Company Ltd. (SEDCO) are also associates of the International Islamic Finance Forum. SEDCO are an Islamic Shariah compliant investment firm based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, with offices in US, UK and Yemen.
•Diamond Sponsor of the forum is the National Commercial Bank, Saudi Arabia. With active branches in Bahrain and Beirut, five overseas representation offices and more than 600 foreign correspondent banks, the NCB is currently positioned as the largest bank throughout the Arab world..
•A second Diamond Sponsor is Al Tawfeek Company for Investment Funds, of Saudi Arabia. Established in 1992 to offer Muslim investors a real alternative to interest-based investment. It is part of the Dallah Al-Baraka Group
•The established leader in Islamic banking and liquidity management services, ABCIB Islamic Asset Management of Bahrain and the UK, are Platinum Sponsors. The ABCIB Islamic Asset Management team concentrates on, real estate, equipment leasing, securitisation, and structured trade finance.
•The Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), which is actively pursuing Islamic finance involvement in the new centre, is also a Platinum Sponsor. Situated as a bridge between the financial centres of Europe and Asia, DIFC is a platform for accessing the trillion dollar regional market.
•Gold Sponsor is Oasis Global Management of South Africa and Ireland. The company was established to provide clients with the opportunity of investing in international security markets around the globe.
•Silver Sponsor is The FWU-Group. FWU is an entrepreneurial financial services group headquartered in Munich, Germany. Core activities include private label distribution of customised Life Takaful and traditional unit-linked life insurance products and asset management.
•A second Silver Sponsor is Guidance Financial of the USA. In the US Guidance has assisted hundreds in acquiring their homes with a Shariah compliant home finance program