International Islamic Financial Market attracts large number of delegates for Indonesia conference and workshop

IIFM is organizing the event with the purpose of creating awareness for the Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) in general and Islamic Capital and Short-term Financial market in particular, as well as to share and disseminate technical expertise and knowledge of the industry's experts with the Indonesian financial community.

The conference has the strong support of Bank Indonesia and the host, Bank Muamalat Indonesia, and sponsorships from Dar Al Istithmar, UK and Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (LOFSA), Malaysia.

The conference, being held in Jakarta, Indonesia on 11 & 12 September 2006, will be preceded, on 11 September 2006, by the 15th meeting of the IIFM Board of Directors.

The conference will be inaugurated by H.E. Dr Burhanuddin Abdullah, Governor of Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia.

Discussions will focus on assessing the achievements and shortcomings of the Islamic financial industry and future prospects as well as the importance of a robust Islamic capital market and short term financial market.

Key speakers at the event include Mr. Khalid Hamad, Executive Director, Banking Supervision, at the Bahrain Monetary Agency, who is also Vice Chairman of the IIFM; Mr. A. Riawan Amin, President of Bank Muamalat, Indonesia; Mr. Azizan Abdul Rahman, Director General, Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority (Lofsa); and Mr. Rafe Haneef, Head of Islamic Banking, Citigroup Asia.

"We are delighted by the response to the event, which is IIFM's first major undertaking in South-East Asia, an important developing area where Islamic finance and capital market is gaining popularity," said Mr. Ijlal Alvi, Chief Executive Officer of IIFM.

"We are particularly appreciative of the strong participation from the GCC region, where also the Islamic banking and finance industry is growing dramatically."

Delegates include senior officials from regulatory authorities from Malaysia, Indonesia, Bahrain and Pakistan as well as top industry professionals from several countries, including the GCC region, Far East, and UK.

The conference will be followed, on 12 September 2006, by an International Workshop on Sukuk. The specialized event, which will be inaugurated by H.E. Dr Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Minister of Finance of Indonesia, will focus on the global sukuk market and its development as well as the prospects for sukuk and sukuk policy in Indonesia.

Prominent speakers at the workshop will include Dr Mulia Nasution, Director General of Treasury at the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, as well as high level industry executives from Dar Al Istithmar, HSBC, Citigroup, CIMB Islamic and IBFIM.