Malaysia hosts meeting of Task Force for Islamic Finance &

Jeddah, January 29, SPA -- The Islamic Research & Training Institute
(IRTI), a member of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDB), has
organized the inaugural meeting of the Task Force for Islamic Finance
& Global Financial Stability in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, under the
chairmanship of Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor, Bank Negara Malaysia.


The task force is comprised of a number of eminent personalities and
experts from member and non-member countries of IDB Group, according
to a press release issued here yesterday.


The Task Force was proposed during the Forum held by the IDB on 25th
October 2008, in response to the Global Financial Crisis, and was
endorsed by the Council of the Islamic Financial Services Board
(IFSB) at its meeting held on 29th October 2008.


It is mandated to assess the performance of the Islamic financial
system in the current financial crisis and areas in which Islamic
finance could contribute to promote financial stability.


The Task Force has set up three working groups to examine the
following areas:


-- Promote greater understanding and appreciation of the universal
values inherent in Islamic finance.


-- Lessons learned from the current financial crisis and how Islamic
finance needs to be developed to enhance the resilience of the
Islamic financial system.


-- Further strengthening of the international Islamic financial
architecture.


A preliminary report will be discussed at the next meeting of the
Task Force on 28th March 2009. The final report is expected to be
completed in September 2009.

--SPA