JEDDAH: An international conference on Islamic finance and interest-free banking will be held in Farook College in Calicut on Oct. 3-4 with the support of the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDBA) and Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC).

The conference, organized by the post-graduate department of Rouzathul Uloom Arabic College (RUAC), will be historic as it comes at a time when financial experts and investors are seeking effective solutions to the global crisis, said Hussein Madavoor, principal of RUAC.

About 200 delegates from India and apoad will take part in the two-day conference. "We have invited IDB president Ahmed Muhammad Ali," Madavoor told a press conference at Al-Noor Medical Center in Sharafiya. Apart from finance ministers, bankers and economists, commerce department students and teachers will also be invited to the conference.

Most people in India and elsewhere in the world are still unaware of the features and benefits of Islamic banking and finance, said Madavoor, a member of Kerala State Wakf Board, while highlighting the significance of the conference.

"An American team of experts, which recently visited Riyadh to study prospects of Islamic finance, reached the conclusion that it is the right alternative to contain global financial crisis," said Madavoor, a graduate of Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah.

The Reguram Committee, appointed by Indian prime Minister Manmohan Singh, recommended the introduction of interest-free finance and advised the government to take measures for the delivery of the service on a large-scale, including through the banking system.

Madavoor said the conference would urge the Indian government to license institutions to provide Islamic banking and finance services and open degree courses in the subject. Such courses will create more job opportunities for Indians in the Gulf countries, he added.

By p.K. Abdul Ghafour

© Arab News 2009