Second Islamic Retail Banking Conference opens tomorrow

Professor Rifaat Abdel Karim, Secretary General of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), and Shaikh Saleh Kamil, Chairman of Dallah Al-Baraka group, will be the main speakers at the opening session of the two-day conference.

The two-day event will feature nine sessions and will be attended by prominent personalities in the field of Islamic and traditional banking. Results of the Islamic Business and Finance Awards 2005 will also be announced tomorrow at a special Gala Dinner.

Five sessions will take place on the first day of the conference on Monday, November 14, 2005. The inaugural session will discuss "The Changing Face of Retail Banking - Challenges for Islamic Banking", followed by the first session under the title "The GCC Regional Overview: Setting the Scene"; second session titled "A Focus on the Malaysian Islamic Retail Banking Experience"; third session titled "The UK & Europe: Islamic retail finance in non-Muslim countries, the future seems bright"; and the fourth session on "USA and Canada". The first day will be concluded by a featured focus on "Takaful, Relationship between Takaful and financing: Unleashing the potential".

The fifth session on the second and final day of the conference will debate "Emerging Market Opportunities for Islamic Finance", while the sixth session will discuss "Islamic Banking Technology at the Fore: Does Technology Yield Competitive Advantage. The seventh session will discuss "Assessing the future of Islamic Credit Cards, Developing the Market"; the eighth session will debate marketing, branding and communication; the ninth session will feature media discussion on "Assessing the impact of Media in Shaping Public Attitudes".