Minister of Finance and Chairman of the Qatar Financial Center-QFC Authority, H.E. Ali Shareef Al Emadi, invited Ambassador of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the State of Qatar, H.E. Tarik Sadović to attend the opening ceremony of 4th Doha Islamic Finance Conference which was held under the patronage of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, on January 09th, at the Sheraton Hotel. The Conference also attended by Central Bank governor Sheikh Abdulla bin Saoud Al-Thani, Qatar Chamber chairman Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al-Thani and Aamal Company chairman Sheikh Faisal bin Qassim Al-Thani. The conference brought together ministers, financial and Islamic banking experts, academics and researchers from local, regional and international financial institutions to discuss the future of the Islamic financial industry in the region.
Addressing the 4th Doha Islamic Finance Conference, Minister of Finance Ali Shareef Al Emadi said that the conference provides an opportunity to meet with local and international partners to discuss further cooperation and coordination in the field of Islamic banking, which has achieved strong growth rates around the world. Many countries around the world have turned to Islamic finance to diversify their financial services, strengthen working relationships with their important partners to increase capital inflows, and reduce risk through expansion of less volatile banking systems. In this regard, Minister noted that the data from the International Monetary Fund show the growth of the assets of Islamic banks from 200 billion dollars in 2003 to 1.9 trillion dollars in 2016, adding that the latest estimates reveal that Islamic finance accounts for 50% of banking services in the GCC, where most GCC citizens prefer Sharia-compliant banking services. Minister Ali Shareef Al Emadi said that Qatar’s Islamic Banks is the third largest contributor to global growth in Islamic banking, with Qatari Islamic banking accounting for about 25% of the country’s banking sector.
Minister said that the recent developments in the world, especially with regard to the rapid growth of electronic financial transactions, whether banking or investment in the financial markets, or the rapid spread of electronic currencies, have brought with it new and growing challenges to the Islamic financial transactions requiring further cooperation, coordination and discussion to find appropriate solutions in dealing with these challenges and to achieve further growth in the sector. He added that continuing innovation and development in offering new Islamic banking products to customers and investors is one of the most important challenges facing the sector, saying that the emergence of new products requires the development of clear frameworks that help clearly define the new product, determine its provisions, calculate its profit, product flowchart, and define whether the product type is investment or financing, as well as the relationship between the borrower and the lender.
Minister Ali Shareef Al Emadi expressed his hope that the conference, which provides an important opportunity to discuss the latest developments in Islamic banking and the challenges facing Islamic finance in the light of the global developments, would achieve the desired results in supporting and enhancing cooperation and coordination among all concerned parties to ensure growth in the Islamic financial sector.