INCEIF awarded “Best Islamic Finance Education Service Provider

INCEIF awarded “Best Islamic Finance Education Service Provider

INCEIF was recognised as the “Best Islamic Finance education service provider in 2011″ at the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA), initiated by Oman Islamic Economic Forum (OEIF) on 17 Dec. Associate Prof Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki– Head of Research-for ISRA (International Shari’ah Research Academy) was awarded the “Most promising talent in Islamic finance”.

The former Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was the guest-of-honour at the two-day event held in Muscat on 17 and 18 Dec 2011. INCEIF President and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Daud Vicary Abdullah received the award on behalf of INCEIF while Dr Asyraf Wajdi was on hand to receive his award.

The awards were part of OIEF’s initiatives to give recognition and celebrate the success and contributions of individuals and institutions in the Islamic financial services industry. While new, OIEF aims to be one of the prominent Islamic finance forums in the Gulf region.

Mr Daud Vicary Abdullah receiving the award from H.E. Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Since its set-up in 2005, INCEIF has chalked up a number of accomplishments including a total of 289 graduates from more than 50 countries, providing Islamic finance talents around the world including in the Gulf, Australasia, North America and Europe. From one flagship programme-the Chartered Islamic Finance Professional– INCEIF has added two programmes, namely Masters in Islamic Finance- and PhD in Islamic Finance. At the third convocation in October 2011, INCEIF welcomed its first batch of PhD graduates.

In line with INCEIF’s strategic focus to bridge the gap between academia and industry practitioners, the PhD theses of the graduates touched on current key industry issues such as ‘Performance/commodity-linked Sukuk for private and public sector funding’, and ‘Cost, profit and technical efficiency: A Data Employment Analysis-based comparative analysis of Malaysian Takaful and insurance providers.’

Its faculty members have also been strengthened with luminaries in the Islamic finance industry including former Islamic Finance Services Board secretary-general Prof Datuk Rifaat Ahmed who is INCEIF’s Adjunct Research Professor and former International Monetary Fund Executive Director Prof Abbas Mirakhor who is the First Holder– INCEIF Islamic Finance Chair. In total, 14 of INCEIF’s 29 faculty members are fulltime professors in Islamic Finance, enabling INCEIF to have one of the highest concentrations of Islamic finance educators in the world.

On the first day of the OIEF, Mr. Daud Vicary was one of the panelists at the session on ‘Islamic banking as practiced by full-fledged Islamic banks: Differences and similarities’. Having been in the finance and consulting industry across Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East for more than 38 years of which the past 9 years have, specifically, been in the Islamic finance industry, Mr. Daud Vicary shared his experiences to date including as the first managing director of one of the Islamic banks in Malaysia. Other panellists at the session were Professor Rodney Wilson of Durham University, and Islamic finance expert Mohammed Amin.

On the second day, Mr Daud Vicary was one of the panellists at the session on “Islamic banking as a tool for economic reforms”. He was joined by Prof Rodney Wilson and Recipco of UK Chairman, Mr James Fierro.

The forum, organised by Amjad Group, was attended by Omani ministers, members of the State Council and Shura Council, heads of banks operating in Oman neighbouring countries. The forum aimed to highlight significant issues in relation to organisational challenges faced by Islamic finance and the effective model of Islamic banking for Oman. Apart from the current issues in Islamic law covering finance, economic development, role of Zakat and the corporate social responsibility were also discussed. Six working sessions were conducted on topics which included ‘Competing Islamic banking regulatory models: Which one is the best for Oman’; and ‘Shariah issues in Islamic banking and finance.’