| Azlan Othman |
AS ONE of the early pioneers of Islamic finance, Brunei Darussalam has plenty of potential to develop it further, said Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Azmi Omar, the Director-General of the Islamic Research and Training Institute Islamic Development Bank (IRTI/IDB), based in Malaysia.
Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Azmi was speaking yesterday at the Islamic Development Bank (IDB)’s ‘Sukuk (Islamic bonds) Model Law’ workshop at The Empire Hotel & Country Club, during which he recalled being personally involved as a consultant in the 1990s, to convert the Development Bank of Brunei to the Islamic Development Bank of Brunei.
The workshop is bringing together representatives from within the Asian region such as Sri Lanka, Maldives, the Philippines and Cambodia, to learn about the legal aspects of Islamic finance from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
“Islamic financial institutions were less affected by the 2008 financial crisis, and the interest in Islamic finance has spread to non-Islamic countries such as Hong Kong, which issues Sukuk,” said Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Azmi.
Islamic Research and Training Institute Islamic Development Bank (IRTI/IDB) Director General Professor Dato’ Dr Mohd Azmi Omar delivering his speech. – AZROL AZMI
“The whole idea of this workshop is to have impactful discussions, and we hope this will lead to a series of workshop on enhancing Islamic finance. This project is meant to develop a set of guidelines and laws to help develop Sukuk in IDB member countries, and develop it globally. This is our mandate in assisting in the implementation of Islamic finance.
“We are assisting member countries in developing Islamic finance through technical assistance and support such as banking, Takaful and so on. Working together is very important in the development of Islamic finance.”
IDB has 57 member countries as far as two countries in South America, namely Surinam and Guyana, besides Southeast and Central Asia, GCC countries and Africa.
The challenge in these member countries is to develop Sukuk, which is increasing in demand by the year.
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