The first annual international conference on lawmakers in the Islamic financial industry ended its deliberations here today. The participants of the conference underlined the importance of convening similar gatherings for enhancing the Islamic financial industry and analyzing challenges facing this industry. Prince Bandar bin Salman bin Mohammed Al-Saud, the advisor to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the honorary president of the Dubai-based international Islamic center for conciliation and arbitration, said the establishment of the center has a positive impact on the march of the Islamic financial industry. He hailed the role being played by the Islamic development bank since its establishment in 1975, and raised its support to the Islamic financial industry. On his part, Dr Ahmad Mohammed Ali, the president of the IDB, reiterated the keenness of the bank on enhancing the Islamic financial industry. He noted that the IDB established in 1981 the Islamic institute for research and training. Dr Ali said the accumulated financing operations approved by the IDB amounted up to the end of 2008 to about $57 billion. The conference reviewed issues pertaining to the Islamic financial industry including the international cooperative insurance system, the role of the Arab law offices as regards contracts of Islamic financial products in addition to the problems of the Islamic financing in the real-estate sector.
