Jeddah, KSA-24.02.2014- The President of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali, and the Lord Mayor of the City of London, Fiona Woolf, agreed to join forces to support the growing role of Islamic finance in international finance and business.

The Islamic financial services industry is estimated to be worth around $1.8 trillion globally, with growth rates of up to 15 per cent each year. The UK is becoming an increasingly important global player in Islamic finance, and London is home to a growing number of banks, law firms and other service providers with expertise in Islamic finance.

During her visit to the IDB headquarters in Jeddah, the Lord Mayor said the UK was determined to play its part in the development of the Islamic finance market, which is why the UK Prime Minister David Cameron announced that the UK will be the first country outside the Islamic world to issue sovereign Sukuk (Islamic bond).

Dr. Ali, for his part, commended the UK’s trail-blazing role in the development of Islamic finance in the West. “The UK’s legal system, regulatory framework and track record of innovation make the UK a partner of choice and an important financial market for IDB’s own Sukuk issues, which are listed in London”, said Dr. Ali.

The President of IDB and the Lord Mayor agreed to organize a roundtable meeting in London this year to discuss the development of the Sukuk market (and the growing role of Sukuk in project finance) under the new Basel III rules, which set out new regulations on bank capital adequacy, stress testing and market liquidity risk.