THE National Commercial Bank has recently participated in the annual Islamic Finance Forum organized by Harvard University in the United States. Held in its tenth session this year, the forum's agenda was focused on discussing the role of Islamic finance in the global economic development, shedding light on the latest challenges facing the growth of the industry and defining the competitiveness and opportunities inherent in Islamic finance as a potential alternative for the conventional financial system. NCB is a three-year sponsor of the forum, extending its support to the event's organizer, the Islamic Finance Project (IFP), under the Islamic Legal Studies Program (ILSP) at Harvard Law School, Cambridge, US. Commenting on the sponsorship, Abdulrazak ElKhraijy, Executive Vice President and Head of Islamic Banking Development Group, commended the efforts exerted by the organizers and their relentless contributions to the development of Islamic finance over more than a decade of time. He said the Harvard's Islamic Finance Forum provides a distinctive platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences among industry leaders, scholars and researchers specializing in the Islamic finance field from around the world, which in turn accelerates the pace of development in the industry. ElKhraijy said the care NCB bestows on such events comes in total harmony with the role it plays as one of the world's pioneers in Islamic banking and the importance the Bank attaches to providing innovative financing solutions compatible with the provisions of Shariah. ElKhraijy presented a paper on "The Contributions of Islamic Finance to Economic Growth" where he explained the industry's role in the development process, saying "the developmental contributions of the Islamic banking industry are not limited to the direct economic development, but transcends that to embody the social and moral aspects of development as well; elements that are not currently included in the 'Human Development Index' of the UN."
