Sixth Islamic Finance Expo and Conference held

Karachi:   Governor Sindh, Muhammad Zubair has observed that Islamic Finance was fast growing globally as the future of Islamic banking remains bright not only in Muslim countries but also in Non-Muslim countries.

Addressing the participants at the inauguration of sixth Islamic Finance Expo and Conference organized by The Professionals Network (TPN) here on Thursday stressed for looking for more logical reasons to convince people towards Shariah complaint banking as more than 95 percent of people strongly believe that the conventional banking was against the Shariah rules. The current 14 percent share of Islamic banking in the overall banking industry is not sufficient that needs to be enhanced, he noted.

He stressed that for the development of Islamic banking in Sindh all stakeholders will have to work together. “Sindh lags far behind in terms of development. You go out and see yourself the cosmopolitan city of Karachi which was once center of the whole region has almost ruined even citizens from other part of country were not willing to come to the city”, Governor Sindh added.

Past glories of Karachi were also lost mainly due to the law and order situation of the city where target killings, extortions, strikes, gang wars, china cutting were norms of the day but now that things are declining, Muhammad Zubair.

Governor Sindh categorically declared that “the Rangers are not going anywhere” because government wants to ensure that “bad old days” are not returned. Rangers will stay as long as they are required, he added.

Talking about the condition of basic infrastructure of the city particularly state of the current transport system, he termed the transport situation “shameful for us”. He sought help of business community of the city to contribute for the capital intensive “Karachi Development Fund” that is going to fund the infrastructure of the city. Prime Minister has constituted a committee comprising all stakeholders including business community which would advise PM on the development projects, he added.

On this occasion Irfan Siddiqui, CEO of Meezan Bank, sought government’s attention towards development of Islamic banking at par with the conventional banking by introducing Shariah based financial instruments.

Siddiqui also pinpointed problems of Islamic banking industry in Sindh province where according to him “lending by Islamic banks was most difficult task in Sindh” due to safety and return reasons.  Bankers are reluctant to extend loans to in the province. “Punjab has made significant progress in financial sector and sindh needs to follow Punjab’s footprints”, he added.

“When we go to Lahore and comeback we feel that we are living in different world”, he observed.

He informed that Islamic banking was fast growing as ADRs of Islamic banks have gone up by 57 percent of the total banking industry and total share of Islamic banks’ has increased to 13 percent. “More than 94 percent people are convinced that the Riba (interest) is haram which gives more room to the Islamic financing. People are preferring Islamic banks for house financing”, he said.

Mehmood Tareen, CEO of TPN, said that the purpose of organizing Islamic Finance Expo was to promote Islamic banking and products in the country by introducing Shariah based products at vibrant forum. “It is a platform where people gather to exchange their ideas about the Islamic financial industry in a rightful manner”, he noted.

Ateeq ur Rehman, Former Chairman, Banking and Insurance Sub-Committee KCCI, said that 82 percent of SMEs are neglected and do not get financing from conventional banking sector. Islamic financing has been offered to them and they feel more comfortable to get finances, he added.

GM Abbasi, Director Islamic Banking, State Bank of Pakistan highlighted the role of central bank playing in the promotion and facilitation of Islamic banking in the country.

Large number of practitioners, religious scholars, Shariah advisors and experts participated in the conference and shared their views in panel discussions held as part of the event.  President of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry KCCI, Shamim Ahmed Firpo, was the chief guest at the concluding session.