At the forum Ethica Institute of Islamic Finance, a training and certification institute, commented on the need for more internship opportunities and other job creation initiatives.
Azhar Mirza, CEO of Jardine Human Capital, noted, “Ethica is at the front lines of job training and they made some important points. There seems to be a lack of job creation in the space. To an outsider and on the charts and tables there is a perception that there are plenty of job opportunities in the space. The reality is far different. There are in fact exceptionally well qualified and experienced individuals who are unable to find positions in suitable organizations. Companies are simply unwilling to offer internship or work experience opportunities.”
In addition to a need for more hiring opportunities, delegates discussed the need for legitimate third-party standards. Some noted that if Dubai seeks to establish itself as the capital of the Islamic economy, it must first begin regulating its own banks for minimal shari'ah compliance, at least to the satisfaction of AAOIFI, the Islamic finance standard followed by over 90% of the world’s Islamic finance jurisdictions.
In addition to a need for more hiring opportunities, delegates discussed the need for legitimate third-party standards. Some noted that if Dubai seeks to establish itself as the capital of the Islamic economy, it must first begin regulating its own banks for minimal shari'ah compliance, at least to the satisfaction of AAOIFI, the Islamic finance standard followed by over 90% of the world’s Islamic finance jurisdictions.
One Islamic finance analyst said: "In Islamic finance, we don’t need more institutions, we need more quality. The level of Islamic finance training is either too academic, and therefore not sufficiently practical, or too far removed from Islamic finance, focusing entirely on banking, as the case in most universities with strong finance programmes but almost no complementary Islamic finance programme.”