Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) successfully held the 17^th AAOIFI-IsDB Annual Islamic Banking and Finance Conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Kingdom of Bahrain themed, “Economic Resilience and Governance in Disruptive Times”. The two-day conference was organised under the auspices of the Central Bank of Bahrain on 27-28 November 2022. The conference received more than 700 delegates from more than 30 countries, in addition to similar number of participation virtually.

The conference was graced by His Highness Sh. Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, Kingdom of Bahrain; H.E. H.E. Sh. Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Former Minister for Oil and Gas, and Former Chairman, nogaholding, Kingdom of Bahrain and H.E. Sh. Khalid bin Ali bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, former Minister of Justice, Kingdom of Bahrain.

The deliberations at the conference were spread over nine sessions with 40 speakers and keynote addresses. The opening ceremony included keynote speeches by H.E. Shaikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Chairman, AAOIFI Board of Trustees; H.E. Mr. Rasheed Mohammed Al Maraj, Governor, Central Bank of Bahrain; H.E. Dr. Feras Milhem, Governor and Chairman, Palestine Monetary Authority; H.E. Dr. Perry Warjiyo, Governor, Bank Indonesia; Dr. Sami Al-Suwailem, Acting Director General, Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) and H.E. Dr. Wassim Manssouri, First Vice Governor, Banque Du Liban.

H.E. Sh. Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, presented insights on inflation, oil prices and economic outlook of the region in a special interactive session.

The speakers included industry experts, Shari’ah scholars, regulators, policymakers, bankers, international services providers, among others, who discussed various relevant topics, including the role of Islamic finance in food security and climate change, Islamic social finance, alternative Islamic benchmark rates, Takaful, capacity building, Islamic finance windows and FinTech.

AAOIFI signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with a number of central banks and Islamic finance stakeholders, including with Central Bank of Oman, Palestine Monetary Authority, Banque du Liban, Central Bank of Somaliland, and TrustBank Amanah of Suriname. In addition, AAOIFI signed membership and AAOIFI Exam Centre agreements with various institutions from different parts of the world.

The conference also saw the graduation ceremony of fellows who passed AAOIFI professional qualifications, Certified Islamic Professional Accountant (CIPA) and Certified Islamic Shari’ah Advisor and Auditor (CSAA), respectively in the last three years. Global Islamic Finance Report (GIFR) 2022 by Cambridge Institute of Islamic Finance, United Kingdom; and Islamic Finance Development Report (IFDI) by Refinitiv were also launched in the conference.

The conference was supported by Saudi National Bank (SNB), Jumhouria Bank from Libya and Kuwait Finance House as major partners. The gold partners included Al Baraka Banking Group, Khaleeji Commercial Bank, Bahrain Islamic Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB). While silver partners included Jordan Islamic Bank, DDCAP and PricewaterhouseCoopers; IFIN and Azentio were the technology partners.

On this occasion, H.E. Shaikh Ebrahim Bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, the Chairman of AAOIFI Board of Trustees said “I would like to extend my thanks and appreciation to the Central Bank of Bahrain and to all partners, sponsors, media, and honourable guests from the central banks and the industry for their participation in the success of this conference, especially to those who have come from different parts of the world. Islamic finance has the ability to respond to the global challenges with its inherent principles of risk-sharing and asset-based financing, and to contribute to achieving equitable distribution of income and wealth to attain economic justice”. His Excellency added, “AAOIFI plays an important role as a catalyst in bring about this economic change through its mandate of standards development and advocacy. We are also pleased to sign agreements with a number of important institutions and look forward to working with them in future”.