CEIF organized a Round Table with Islamic Finance Experts

A Round Table discussion was conducted by CEIF with Islamic Finance Industry leaders. This Round Table discussion was initiated to discuss and develop a road map for the industry to help achieve its goals of financial inclusion, widespread prosperity and financial stability. The industry has captured a share of 13% in a span of 12 years, however, financial penetration remains low at less than 15% in a country with population of 200 million. The challenges faced are multifaceted demanding integrated solutions for which financial sector and academia needs to come together. In this backdrop, the purpose of the session was to develop a collective strategy to overcome the challenges and identify short term concrete steps required to achieve the stated goals.

The Theme of the Round Table revolved around the following six agendas

- Capacity Building
- Awareness/Penetration
- Product Innovation
- Financial Inclusion
- Liquidity Management & Islamic Capital Markets
- Legal and Regulatory Challenges

Dr. Ishrat Husain, Dean and Director IBA and Chairman CEIF, moderated the session and Chief Guest was Prof. Dr. Omar Azmi, Director General IRTI who presented his views derived from his extensive international experience.

CEIF will circulate a Paper on the recommendations of the participants to all the stakeholders.

The participants included:

- Dr. Ishrat Hussain, Dean & Director, IBA
- Dr. Mohd. Omar Azmi, Director General, IRTI
- Mr. Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Director, CEIF-IBA
- Mr. Ghulam Abbassi, Director, SBP
- Dr. Dawood Ashraf, Senior Researcher, IRTI
- Mr. Junaid Ahmed, CEO, Dubai Islamic Bank
- Mr. Rizwan Ata, Head of Islamic Banking, Bank Al Falah
- Mr. Saeed Uddin Khan, Head of Islamic Banking, Sindh Bank
- Dr. Qazi Masood, Director, CBER-IBA
- Mr. Pervaiz Ahmed, BoD, Al Meezan Investments
- Mr. Nasir Ali Syed, CEO, Pak Qatar Takaful
- Mr. Mohammad Shoaib, CEO, Al Meezan Investments
- Mufti Irshad Ahmad, Chairman, Shariah Board, Bank Islami
- Mufti Muhammad Najeeb Khan, RSBM, Summit Bank
- Mufti Zahid Farooq, RSBM, Burj Bank
- Dr. Zeeshan Ahmed, Associate Professor, KSBL
- Mr. Faisal Shaikh, Product Development Head, Bank Islami
- Mr. Arshad Majeed, SEVP, Meezan Bank
- Mr. Nauman Tariq, Head of Ops & Treasury, UBL