– President of the Islamic Development Bank Group H.E. Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, addressed the 4th French Forum on Islamic Finance congratulating the French officials on the progress they have made in the field of Islamic financial services industry appreciating the great attention paid to Shari’ah-compliant finance for the resistance it displayed in the face of the recent financial crises.
The one day Forum in Paris under the title; “Islamic Finance, the Engine for the French Economy, Investment and Financial Institutions in 2011”, was organized by the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the French Research Center for Islamic Finance and the Islamic Development Bank Group.
In his speech, Dr. Ahmad Ali underlined the desire of the IDB Group for cooperating and coordinating with all the parties involved in Islamic finance to see the industry flourish and develop even more stressing that Shari’ah-compliant finance is not merely confined to Muslims rather it is accessible by whoever seeks it and that these services are outspoken for their reliance on real investment and the principle of risk and profit sharing.
Stressing that Islamic finance has practically proven its capacity to play a role in boosting stability in global financial markets, the IDB Group president then expressed his gratitude to the government of France specially the French Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment as well as the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce for the important steps taken in facilitating the development and growth of Islamic financial services in France underlining that the Islamic financial system is capable of contributing to a more justified and stable new global financial order.
Earlier in the day, former French foreign minister and the current President of the Franco-Arab Chamber of Commerce, Herve du Charette, inaugurated the meeting on behalf of the French Minister of Economy and Industry, Her Excellency Christine Lagarde. Attended by a large number of French companies representatives, banks, Islamic Finance institutions and academics dealing with Islamic economy and the Islamic financial services industry, the high profile function mainly focused on three major points namely; “issuance of Sukuk in France as of the start of the year 2011, real estate market as a market model for Islamic finance and joint financing of projects in France and countries in the Mediterranean and Africa.”
Participants at the event also discussed all the possible legal procedures for issuance and exchange of Sukuk as well as some relevant experiences by companies outside France and ways of developing the French real estate market based on Islamic finance. During the Forum, the French officials also wowed to push for materialization of three major priorities namely: “turning Paris into an international hub for issuance of Sukuk, employing Sukuk for Islamic financing and attracting further Islamic banks and companies to the French capital”.
Later in the day and upon an invitation by Georges SERRE, the director general for globalization, development and partnership affairs at the French ministry of foreign affairs, IDB Group President Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali visited the headquarters of the foreign affairs ministry of France where His Excellency was received by Georges SERRE himself. During the meeting various ways for promoting cooperation between the French Agency for Development and the Islamic Development Bank Group were discussed as well as issues pertaining to the G8 and G20 in addition to cooperation in the field of development of Africa and business activities in France.
Since November 2009, French Minister of Economic Affairs, Industry and Employment, Christine Lagarde has been leading a governmental drive to attract investment from Muslim countries wowing to turn Paris into the European capital of Islamic finance and help France in its bid to counter the global credit crisis.