Jeddah,30.03.09:
The Islamic Development Bank will participate in the 14th meeting of Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and the 7th meeting of its general assembly to be held in Riyadh,Tuesday 31/3/2009.
The IFSB which is grouping 20 full-fledged members as well as the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will also be attended by other participating and observer members.
.The IDB will brief the Board on the outcome of the Second Meeting of the Task Force on Islamic Finance and Global Financial Stability, which was held at the IDB headquarters in Jeddah, on March 28, 2009, under the chairmanship of H. E Tan Sri Dato' Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia.
The briefing will underline the Task Force view, which was formed by the IDB last October, on the role of Islamic finance industry in facing the international economic crisis and global challenges, as well as the steps needed for enabling the Islamic financial services to participate in stabilizing the international economy.
Last week the IDB. President participated in the Colloquium on Islamic Financial Architecture which took place in London under the patronage of the Lord Mayor of London.
The meeting generated good discussions about the role of Islamic finance in the face of the unfolding global economic crisis, and ways and means of finalizing a clear mechanism for using the tools of the Islamic financial industry to combat the global economic crisis.
A communiqué was issued by the Colloquium expressing concerns about the unprecedented food, energy, financial and economic crises of the past two years which have had highly adverse economic consequences for all and have caused acute hardships for the world’s poor and vulnerable population.
The Colloquium observed that Islamic finance can contribute to global financial stability by virtue of its inherent stabilizing features and incentive systems. At the same time it makes financial services more inclusive by catering to the preferences of a large segment of the world population. However, the Colloquium noted that the maturity of funds and risks of certain assets in Islamic financial institutions are different. Therefore, the resilience of these institutions needs to be mainstreamed within the framework of the expanded Financial Stability Forum.
The Colloquium suggested to the leaders of the G-20 countries that they consider the above features of Islamic finance for the promotion of financial stability and inclusive economic development. In this regard the Colloquium records with satisfaction the initiatives of Her Majesty’s Government and the UK Financial Services Authority in promoting London as a hub for global Islamic financial services.
The delegates acknowledged with appreciation the role of Lord Mayor of the City of London in organizing this Colloquium in the Mansion House as well as the joint efforts of IFSL and IRTI/IDB in this regard.