INCEIF takes part in Jakarta’s Festival Ekonomi Syariah

"The small-and-growing CIFP (Chartered Islamic Finance Professional ) community in Indonesia had a chance to catch up with INCEIF staff in Jakarta recently when INCEIF was invited by Bank Indonesia (BI), the central bank of Indonesia, to participate at the inaugural Festival Ekonomi Syariah 2008 organised by BI to commemorate Maal Hijrah (the Muslim new year). Themed "Towards A Prosperous Indonesia With Islamic Economy", the event, held from January 16 to 20 at the Jakarta Convention Centre, attracted about 1,000 trade visitors and 30,000 members of the public.

Several new and current CIFP candidates took the opportunity to listen to a talk on Shariah Governance & Regulatory Framework for Islamic Finance: Issues and Challenges" by Prof. Dr. Zainal Azam Abdul Rahman, Head of Applied Shariah Department., at a two-day conference held as part of the Festival Ekonomi Syariah. Earlier on, participants at the conference also had the chance to listen to a presentation by Bank Negara Malaysia Deputy Governor Dato' Mohd Razif Abdul Kadir which was followed by a lively question-and-answer session.

Most of the participants wanted to find out Malaysia's formula of success in developing and promoting the country as an international Islamic financial centre. INCEIF, as a provider of human capital for the Islamic financial services industry, was mentioned by Dato' Razif as one of the steps put in place by the Malaysian government to set a solid foundation for the industry

At the launch of the conference, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the Indonesian government was in full support of the country's dual banking system - Shariah and conventional - since it went into full swing in 2000. Looking forward, he added that the government had hopes that the Islamic financial system would help towards poverty eradication based on its basic guiding principles.