King Abdulaziz University (KAU) will receive Dr. Rafael Puyol Antolin, the president of IE business school in Madrid, on Saturday as part of the collaboration agreement signed by the two universities last year, which includes establishing a Center for Islamic Economics and Finance (CIEF) at IE university. Jose Luis Estevez, the director of CIEF, will accompany Antolin in his visit to Faculty of Economics and Administration and the Islamic Economic Research Center. The Center for Islamic Economics and Finance in Madrid, which was established last year, is organizing a conference titled “Beyond the Crisis: Islamic Finance in the New Financial Order.” The opening ceremony and the main session will take place at Madrid Stock Exchange, where officials, experts and academics form Spain and Saudi Arabia will gather together a the conference. The aim is to spread awareness of Islamic Finance in Spain and enhance cooperation between business and academic institutions in the two countries. The Spanish delegation will also visit the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry to meet with businessmen and women, and the Islamic Development Bank and its research arm, the Islamic Institute for Research and Training. Islamic finance grew exponentially in the years preceding the financial crisis – particularly in the Middle East – boosted by an inflow of billions of dollars of oil revenue into the Gulf.
