 |
| ADB Headquarters in Manila [PHOTO: ©Eugene Alvin Villar, 2007] |
Manila: A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate
international cooperation between the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB)
and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in promoting the development of Islamic
finance in common developing member countries was signed today at the ADB
headquarters in Manila.
“The importance of
Islamic Finance in the development of Asia cannot be doubted, as can be seen by
the significant increase in Shari'ah compliant financing in a number of ADB's
developing member countries in recent years,” said Bindu Lohani, ADB Vice President
for Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development. “We look forward to
working even more closely with IFSB under this MOU to address some of the key
issues facing our member countries in the areas of financial inclusiveness and
infrastructure financing.”
Lohani and IFSB
Secretary-General Jaseem Ahmed signed the MOU on behalf of their institutions.
The MOU provides an
effective basis for joint activities and general cooperation in areas of common
interest, with the following objectives specified:
- Enhancing cooperation in the form of joint technical assistance and/or policy-based work in Common Developing Member Countries;
- Promoting the development of Islamic finance, in particular strengthening the capacity of regulating and supervising Islamic financial services institutions, Islamic capital markets and Islamic liquidity management in Common Developing Member Countries; and
- Stimulating joint research and exchange of information, which will be used as critical evidence to support policy areas of mutual interest, as well as to enhance knowledge-sharing between both organisations.
Ahmed thanked ADB for
its longstanding support for Islamic finance, and noted that the MOU formalizes
a partnership between IFSB and ADB going back to the provision of the first
Technical Assistance by the ADB for Islamic finance in 2005. He underlined that
the MOU was designed to serve both institutions and their respective mandates.
“In the context of
Asia’s developmental needs, and the expanding potential for Islamic finance in
the region, the MOU strengthens our ability to jointly support the policy,
institutional and capacity requirements for a more resilient Islamic financial
sector. I especially look forward to working with ADB in encouraging cross-border
cooperation in the use of Islamic finance to address the challenges of widening
financial and social inclusion in Asia, and in meeting Asia’s enormous need for
innovative financial mechanisms for its infrastructure spending,” he said.
The IFSB is an international
standard-setting organization that promotes and enhances the soundness and
stability of the Islamic financial services industry by issuing global
prudential standards and guiding principles for the industry, broadly defined
to include banking, capital markets and insurance sectors. The IFSB also
conducts research and coordinates initiatives on industry-related issues, as
well as organizes roundtables, seminars and conferences for regulators and
industry stakeholders. Towards this end, the IFSB works closely with relevant
international, regional and national organizations, research/educational
institutions and market players.
The members of the
IFSB comprise regulatory and supervisory authorities, international
inter-governmental organizations and market players, professional firms and
industry associations.