05.12.2011, Jeddah, KSA – Addressing a conference on “Islamic Finance in the 21st Century” in Madrid, Spain, Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, President of the Islamic Development Bank Group, underlined the significant role Islamic finance plays in dealing with global economic crises.
According to him, the ethical principles advocated by Islamic economy have practically spurred many western economists to call for inclusion of moral criteria in tackling problems conventional economy is exposed to.
At the conference sponsored by the Islamic Economics Business School on the occasion of launching “the Saudi- Spanish Center for Islamic Economy and Finance” in Madrid, Dr. Ali emphasized the need for devising mechanisms to limit excessive lending and financing for speculation adopted by the conventional banks. He called for the need to reform the internal structure of the global financial system in curbing extreme lending tendency adding that risk sharing is an important element in this framework. “The Islamic financing principles have contributed to the protection of Islamic Banks from risks other banks have been grappling with during the global financial crisis”, said, Dr. Ali.
The conference saw active participation of a number of businessmen, academicians and government representatives discussing the new tools designed to expand the scope of Islamic finance in the 21st. century. The participants also shared their experiences and knowledge about best practices of Islamic financing.