The 5th World Islamic Banking Conference: Asia Summit (WIBC Asia 2014), held under the theme "Expanding the Boundaries of Islamic Finance: Complementing Domestic Growth with International Linkages”, was held in early June in Singapore.
The inaugural address by H.E Ravi Menon, Governor, Monetary Authority of Singapore on June 3 noted that Singapore's prospects in Islamic finance look bright, with more funds
establishing themselves in the country, which is the only non-Muslim majority country
among the top 15 countries for Islamic finance, it was reported in Channel NewsAsia on 3 June.
Speakers called for better cross-border connections in order to
sustain momentum and penetrate further into new global markets, noted an article in TODAY newspaper on 2 June.
Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, CIMB Islamic said in a statement: “Islamic finance has further advanced its position as a mainstream value proposition with an increasingly global presence. That said, we as an industry still face many challenges of a new kid on the block...Mutual discussion and
information sharing is all well and good but market traction and market
share is where the rubber meets the road, where we find out how good we
really are."
Among the issues to be addressed, Badlisyah Abdul Ghani said, are the needs to increase the scale of business locally, to prepare products and services to adapt and comply with more robust regulatory and risk frameworks, and to enhance the talent pool.
“Key markets in Asia and the Middle East are now witnessing rapid economic growth and expansion which in turn brings the need for responsive investment banking and capital markets. To cater to the evolving needs of end-users and to build new capabilities, it is essential for the Islamic finance industry to develop new financial products and services that support both mature and new markets. This in turn requires strong integration and economic inter-linkages between the key markets for Islamic finance," said Toby O’ Connor, Chief Executive Officer, The Islamic Bank of Asia.
"Islamic banks need to build international connectivity and scalable platforms that can connect with businesses and financial institutions beyond borders. Achieving greater international connectivity enables greater scope for expanding the boundaries of Islamic finance."
Muzaffar Hisham, Head, Group Islamic Banking, Maybank and Chief Executive Officer, Maybank Islamic highlighted the need to improve both local and international capabilities in the industry: “Despite uncertainty within the global financial markets over the last 12 months, quantitative easing in the United States, a marked slowdown of growth in China and deep restructuring in the Euro-Zone, the Islamic banking industry has seen yet another bumper year in terms of growth and resilience.
"An even more encouraging sign we see today is the industry's efforts to globalise, reflecting increased understanding and appetite from industry players and investors globally. The announcement of the UK and Hong Kong sovereign sukuk are testament of an industry entering a new phase of growth. However, in order to support and ensure sustainable growth within the non-natural markets internationally, there must be more emphasis on cohesion, consistency and transparency and in increasing international linkages via increased cross-border capital market transactions, and anchoring domestic driven gains”.
Speaking from Bahrain ahead of the conference Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive of Al Baraka Banking Group, added: “Industry leaders are looking to boost cross-border growth opportunities in Islamic finance - and Asia is considered as one of the fastest growing markets for Islamic finance. The demand for Islamic finance products will continue to grow not only due to the recovery in global economic activities, but also due to more supportive regulatory policies and more sovereign and corporate issuers tapping into sukuk.
"Many of the high growth potential markets in the global economy are in the Islamic world and this economic growth in key markets across Asia, the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa will further boost the Islamic finance industry. With its strong links to the real economy Islamic finance has a key role to play in the development needs of these countries and Asia, with its sustained growth levels, has tremendous opportunities to further boost cross-border capital and trade flows with the Middle East."