KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama) — International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) is planning closer cooperation with Bank lndonesia lnstitute (BlNS) to realise the common objective of spearheading innovations in Islamic finance and economics through research and training.
Towards this end, INCEIF, which was set up by Bank Negara Malaysia (Malaysia’s Central Bank) in 2005, on Thursday inked a memorandum of commitment (MoC) with BINS, a department at Indonesia’s central bank that is tasked with training and research.
In a statement, INCEIF said the collaboration would establish a network of mutual co-operation that would strengthen the efforts between the university and BINS in the areas of curriculum development, research and training.
This would include the exchange of faculties, scholars and researchers, and resources in Islamic finance, it said.
President and chief executive officer Prof Azmi Omar said as the world has changed rapidly in recent months, the response by the Islamic banking industry, finance and economy to these changes may be a generation-defining moment.
In establishing a world-class centre for education, research and training in Islamic finance, of importance is the combined collaborative efforts among industry players, researchers, academicians and shariah scholars, he said.
“The critical shortage of available technical talent in the Islamic financial industry can also be addressed if all the relevant participants to the Islamic financial sector are willing to forge their efforts together on a continuous basis to elevate the performance level of Islamic finance,” he added.
Meanwhile, in her keynote address at a panel discussion to mark the MoC, chancellor and BINS honorary board member Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz said adding value to the economy while also meeting societal goals are among the basic tenets of the Islamic economy and Islamic finance.
Applied research should then be focused not only on contemporary and innovative instruments but also on how to measure the impact that the instruments have on society and to identify the limitations and gaps between the potential and actual output, she said.
With the financial reforms initiated by the international community post-the Great Financial Crisis of early 2000’s now largely in place, the imperative for future finance is not only to be stable and resilient but also to become an anchor to its bedrock — the real economy — and to generate positive benefit for the wider society and to also take into account environmental sustainability, Zeti added.
— BERNAMA