Iftar and gabgha at the Le Meridien Bahrain City Centre

Le Méridien Bahrain City Centre offers live entertainment with iftar and gabgha this Ramadhan.

Source: Le Meridien Bahrain City Centre website. Ramadhan greeting featuring a lit lantern at sunset.

FURN Bistro

Live Arabic entertainment
Iftar buffet: Sunset to 8:30pm
Gabgha*: Ala carte from 9pm to 1am

Book for iftar

Nasmat

An outdoor area serving tea and coffee with shisha from sunset to midnight

Call +973 1717 1441 to book

Interested?

Le Méridien Bahrain City Centre
Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Highway
Al Seef, Manama
Bahrain

*Gabgha refers to evening activities and gatherings.

Gulf Air distributes iftar meals in Manama over Ramadhan

Source: Gulf Air. Gulf Air's workforce is distributing iftar meals in Manama.

Bahrain's national carrier Gulf Air has begun its annual Ramadhan iftar meal box distribution. Airline staff are helping ensure the safety of drivers on the road and facilitating the breaking of drivers' fasts by distributing iftar meal boxes at major traffic junctions in Manama, Bahrain prior to the maghrib prayer time.

The Ramadhan initiative, in its fourth year, is in line with Gulf Air’s commitment to delivering on a variety of corporate social responsibility initiatives throughout the year.

posted from Bloggeroid

AAOIFI-World Bank Conference 2016 report now available

The report on the 11th Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI)-World Bank Conference, held in early November 2016 in Manama, Bahrain, is now available for download. The event, with the theme Islamic Finance in the Post Oil Economic Scenario, was attended by 737 persons from around 42 countries. 

The report provides key information, figures and statistics in addition to links to research and presentations.

Interested?

Download the report in Arabic or English

AAOIFI announces Annual Shari'a Conference dates for 2015

The Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) will hold the 14th Annual Shari’a Conference on 22 and 23 March 2015 in Manama, Bahrain. The conference will be held under the auspices of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Discussions at the conference will include on topics relating to application of shari’ah law to international Islamic finance products, services and practices as well as continuing innovation of Islamic finance to support further growth and expansion of the industry across the world.

Shari’ah scholars, Islamic finance practitioners and academicians will lead the discussions. Anticipated participants at the conference comprise shari’ah scholars and senior representatives from central banks, regulatory authorities, financial institutions, accounting and auditing firms, legal firms, universities and higher learning institutions, and other Islamic finance industry stakeholders.

Dr Hamed Hassan Merah, Secretary General, AAOIFI explained that “the AAOIFI Annual Shari’a Conference has long been regarded as a truly unique forum that brings together shari’ah scholars and Islamic finance practitioners, regulators and academicians”. He added that the conference is a major part of AAOIFI’s consultation with the international Islamic finance industry especially on AAOIFI’s efforts to development new standards and review existing ones.

AAOIFI will hold training sessions for its Certified Shari’a Adviser and Auditor (CSAA) and Certified Islamic Professional Accountant (CIPA) qualification programmes after the conference, from 24 to 27 March 2015.

AAOIFI, established in 1991 and based in Bahrain, is an international not-for-profit organisation primarily responsible for development and issuance of standards for the global Islamic finance industry. It has issued a total of 94 standards in the areas of shari’ah, accounting, auditing, ethics and governance for international Islamic finance. 

Register for the conference here.

Global Islamic Investment Gateway to bring Islamic opportunities to investors this March

A new event aimed at generating business in the Islamic finance sector has been introduced by the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) in conjunction with Thomson Reuters and supported by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB).

The Global Islamic Investment Gateway was launched last month and aims to bring investors and cross-border Islamic investment opportunities in some of the world's fastest growing economies together. Decision makers from investment banks, sovereign wealth funds, investment companies and family offices of high net worth individuals are expected to attend.

The Global Islamic Investment Gateway is organised by Thomson Reuters and the IDB, through its Business Forum THIQAH. It will be held at the Gulf Hotel in Manama, Bahrain on March 2 and 3 under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince, First Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the EDB, and His Excellency Dr Ahmad Mohamed Ali Al Madani, President of IDB Group.

It will be supported by an online portal which will collate international investment opportunities. The organisers are already collaborating with investment development agencies and investment originators in Islamic markets to obtain, review and standardise investment opportunities across sectors.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) markets are projected to grow at an average of 5.4% till 2019, significantly higher than the rest of the world (3.6%) and the high growth BRICS markets (3.9%). This increased economic growth is accompanied by a greater maturity in their financial markets, enabling greater involvement of private capital in their development.

His Excellency Dr Al Madani said: "The OIC economies are at the heart of the world's most rapid economic growth and Islamic finance provides an excellent chance to connect capital to exciting opportunities in these markets. This event can play an important role in making that process happen."

His Excellency Kamal bin Ahmed, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications and Acting Chief Executive of Bahrain EDB said: "We are very proud to support this event in Bahrain. We are committed to the development of the international Islamic finance sector and event such as this, which will enable real investment in viable projects, can play a great role in the process."

Dr Sayd Farook, Global Head of Islamic Capital Markets, Thomson Reuters, said: "The Global Islamic Investment Gateway will be the premier event for any investor looking for access to opportunities in emerging and frontier Islamic markets. These markets have the value chains that have the potential to provide excellent returns for the capital in the GCC and this event will give investors the means to access them."

Hasan Al Jabri, Chief Executive Officer, SEDCO Capital said: "Other events have focussed on the intellectual issues around Islamic investment which are important but Global Islamic Investment Gateway is very focussed on linking real investors with real opportunities and facilitating actual business and we are very excited to be involved."

The event will feature over 30 OIC countries, split into the key regional sectors including GCC, MENA, CIS, Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa and will cover all major investment sectors, driven by the opportunities presented by the investment development agencies and investment originators.

Individuals can register their interest here.