1,300 global Islamic finance leaders set for Bahrain talks

More than 1,300 international Islamic finance leaders are heading to Bahrain next month for the 20th anniversary special edition of the World Islamic Banking Conference.
Sheikh Saleh Kamel and Sir Howard Davies are expected to headline the most impressive line-up of speakers ever at WIBC, organizers announced.
The World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2013) is scheduled to be held in Bahrain from December 3 to 5.
It is held with the support of Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa, Prime Minister of Bahrain and supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain.
The annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC), which over the last two decades has established its pre-eminent position as the world’s largest and most influential annual gathering of global Islamic finance industry leaders, is set to gather industry pioneers, thought leaders, key regulators and leading industry players for discussions focused on transforming the industry to improve the stability, competitiveness and global growth of the international Islamic finance industry.
Confirming his participation at the event, Rasheed Mohammed Al-Maraj, governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain, said: “The global Islamic finance industry has undoubtedly undergone significant change over the past two decades, playing an ever increasing role in the international financial system.”
He added: “The industry has also grown significantly in geographic coverage, now encompassing even more new jurisdictions and emerging markets as well as the deepening and mainstreaming of its footprint in its core markets. However, in order for Islamic finance to continue to be successful as well as robust and resilient across all phases of the economic cycle, a genuine transformation is now required in order to progress to the next level of development.”
Speaking ahead of the event, David McLean, chief executive of the World Islamic Banking Conference, said: “Growing awareness of and demand for investing in accordance with Shari’ah principles on a global scale has been a major catalyst toward making Islamic financial services a flourishing industry with total assets now in excess of $1.3 trillion.”