Malaysia Can Become Global Islamic Finance Centre, Says Don

By Amanina Mohamad Yusof & Syairah Zahari KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia can become the centre for global Islamic finance based on its well-grounded structure and strong framework, says Prof Rifaat Ahmed Abdel Karim of INCEIF -- the global university of Islamic Finance. He said Malaysia was already one of the largest sukuk issuance centres in the world and had established Islamic finance institutions well governed by trusted bodies like the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation. "To be the international centre for Islamic finance, there are a number of factors to be considered. "Besides being the largest sukuk issuer, you also need to outline the appropriate regulatory and legal framework together with an effective tax structure," he told Bernama after receiving an award from UK-based Emerald Group Publishing Ltd here Wednesday. His article titled "Supervisory Regulatory and Capital Adequacy Implications of Profit Sharing Investment Accounts in Islamic Finance" was judged an Outstanding Paper by the Emerald Literati Network 2011 Awards for Excellence. Meanwhile, asked whether Islamic finance would one day take over the conventional system, Rifaat said: "I don’t see it will take over and I don’t think it is the aim because you have to develop Islamic finance and the infrastructure for Islamic finance is not comprehensively developed yet as opposed to the conventional". -- BERNAMA