Deputy Finance Minister: Malaysia on track to becoming a global Islamic finance hub

Kuala Lumpur—According to Malaysia’s Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Amiruddin Hamzah, the country is on track towards becoming one of the leading global Islamic financial hubs.

And this, he said in Parliament on Monday, April 22, will happen very soon.

“According to Thomson Reuters’s Islamic Financial Development Report in 2018, Malaysia remains the leader among 56 countries for Islamic financial institutions,” Mr. Amiruddin said, in an answer to a query from Senator Asmak Huin.

“This illustrates that the setting up of the IILM in 2010 as a government ‘frontier’ to develop Malaysia’s Islamic finance sector at the international level was the correct step towards making Kuala Lumpur the best global Islamic finance hub.”

The International Islamic Liquidity Management Corp (IILM) was established nine years ago with the cooperation of a dozen central banks. The IILM’s purpose was to spearhead initiatives from the government in connection with developing Islamic finance on a global level.

Mr. Amiruddin said that Bank Negara Malaysia had been appointed the arranger and manager of sovereign Sukuk (Islamic bonds) issuance of countries like Turkey and Hong Kong showing that Malaysia has gained recognition as one of the top Islamic finance hubs in the world.

Senator Asmak asked another question concerning the plan of the government to grow the number of people working in Islamic finance. To this, the Deputy Finance Minister replied that individuals may obtain their bachelor degrees and doctorates at the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (Inceif), which would raise the level of expertise necessary to match global standards.

Mr Amiruddin said, “In 2018, through its Islamic finance bachelor and doctorate programmes, Inceif was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, which placed the centre among the top five percent of international institutes which offer business and Islamic finance programmes.”

He also named another institution that offers bachelor and doctorate programmes on Fiqh Muamalat (Islamic law dealing with finance and commerce), the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (Isra). Isra also performs negotiations in issues that pertain to Islamic finance for African and Commonwealth countries./ TISG