March 19, 2009 at 5:13 am
Senior executives and strategists from the banking sector in Malaysia attending the ongoing Malaysia Services Exhibition (MSE 2009) in Dubai have said they are eager to co-operate with governments and financial institutions in and around the Middle East in tapping the rapidly increasing opportunities in Islamic finance.
Addressing a forum on ‘Malaysia – opportunities in Islamic finance’ at the three-day services showcase, which opened at the Dubai Airport Expo on March 17, Mohammed Ibrahim, Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia – the Central Bank of Malaysia – said Malaysia has been able to develop a model Islamic banking system in terms of solid fundamentals and a level playing field for domestic and global players.
‘Malaysia has adopted a comprehensive approach in developing Islamic finance into a viable alternative in terms of product diversity and innovation, regulatory framework and human capital. We are ready to share our experiences and expertise with new as well as existing players as such co-operation will only accelerate growth of this sector,’ Mr Ibrahim told the forum.
MSE 2009 is being attended by 15 leading institutions that pioneered Islamic finance in Malaysia and lead the country’s evolution into the premier platform for Islamic finance activities and the first in the world to have a full-fledged Islamic financial system operating in parallel to the conventional banking system. To date, there are over 11 Islamic banks and 13 other banks participating in Islamic banking schemes in Malaysia with total of 1,281 branches operating throughout the country.
Leveraging on the strengths of its domestic sector, Malaysia has also launched the Malaysia International Islamic 
Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative to offer its value propositions in Islamic finance to the world. Malaysia’s central location as the gateway to ASEAN markets – a huge market of over 570 million people – is also a major attraction for investment companies exploring lucrative cross-border opportunities.
Mr Ibrahim said developing the human capital required to promote growth of Islamic finance locally and globally has been a top priority for Malaysia. ‘Malaysia has an International Islamic University and we ensure that qualified manpower is employed in our Islamic financial services sector. For example, a few years ago we had hardly 20 Shari’a scholars but the Central Bank stipulated that no two banks can have the same scholar on their board. As a result the number of Shari’a scholars in Malaysia has now crossed 200.’
MSE 2009 is organised by Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE), the national trade promotion organisation of Malaysia, which has 39 offices around the world including in Dubai and Jeddah. The exhibition will showcase over 200 service providers from 13 industry clusters where its broad range of services can meet the growing needs of the markets in the Middle East, North Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
‘There is still room for Islamic financial services and the prevailing global economic climate will promote growth and diversification of Islamic financial products. It would therefore be in the interest of everyone – especially major hubs of Islamic finance such as Malaysia and Dubai – to work together to make the best use of this opportunity,’ commented Mr. Noraslan Hadi Abdul Kadir, Trade Commissioner of Malaysia in Dubai.
MSE 2009 follows the success of the inaugural Malaysia Services Exhibition held at Sharjah Expo in 2008. Other industry clusters represented at MSE 2009 are: construction, engineering, healthcare and hospital-related services, ICT, oil & gas, education and specialised training, energy and power generation, logistics and transportation, professional services, franchising clusters, design and art.