(Sukuk.net - Bahrain Tribune) With Islamic banking assets set to reach $1 trillion by 2010, the issues like harmonisation of shariah standards, regulations and supervision of the Islamic financial institutions are among the key challenges for regulators, policy makers and the major players in the industry. Bahrain being the Islamic banking centre in the Middle East is set to host the top experts, government officials, regulators, shariah experts at Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and World Bank Annual Conference 2008 which opens tomorrow. AAOFI-World Bank 2008 will provide a rare opportunity to the regulators, policy makers and major players in the Islamic banking and finance to deliberate upon challenges, opportunities at time when the entire global economy is heading towards a slow down if not a recession.

Organised by the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) in partnership with the World Bank, the event will be held under the auspices of Central Bank of Bahrain. Opening addresses at the conference will be delivered by Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance Bahrain; Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Housing and chairman of AAOIFI Board of Trustees; Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain and James Adams, Vice President for East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank. "This Conference, which is a premier event for the international Islamic finance industry, brings together the leading Shari'a scholars and Islamic finance practitioners to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the industry especially in the current international financial environment.

The active involvement of the World Bank in organising this Conference is a testimony to the importance of the industry and to the Kingdom of Bahrain's leading position as an Islamic finance centre," said Dr Mohamad Nedal Alchaar, the Secretary General of AAOIFI. The major players in the Islamic banking industry see this upcoming event as a major platform where the shariah experts, regulators, policy makers and will share their expertise on major issues including harmonised standards, transparency and also how to avail the huge opportunity created by the ongoing financial crisis.

According to them the conference will provide a unique and high profile platform for the advancement of the global Islamic banking industry in general. AAOIFI is the international organisation that formulates standards on accounting, auditing, ethics, governance, and Shariah for the international Islamic finance industry.
.bookmarks { CLEAR: both; BORDER-RIGHT: #e4e4e6 1px solid; PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; BORDER-TOP: #e4e4e6 1px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; FLOAT: left; MARGIN-BOTTOM: 10px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0px; BORDER-LEFT: #e4e4e6 1px solid; PADDING-TOP: 0px; BORDER-BOTTOM: #e4e4e6 1px solid } A.BoxLinks { COLOR: #015fb6; TEXT-DECORATION: none } END.BoxButtons { vertical-align: middle; BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none } #yahooBuzzBadge-form { FLOAT: left } #yahooBuzzBadge-form SPAN { WIDTH: 0px } Digg This Article Digg   Add to Delicious Del.icio.us   Seed this article Newsvine   ARTICLEURL   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to furl Furl ` omar1.1 mfn