Istanbul, 20 May 2014 – The 8th WIEF Roundtable Series was officially held at Ceylan Intercontinental, Istanbul, Turkey today.
The Roundtable, with the theme “Transforming Islamic Finance in Turkey: Promise of Growth” was jointly organised by the WIEF Foundation and MUSIAD (Independent Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association).
As long standing partners, the two sides had successfully organised two sessions of Roundtable in 2011, themed “Business Opportunities in Kazakhstan” and “Empowering SMEs in Far Eastern Markets & Impacts of Globalisation of SMEs” also in Istanbul.
Participated by experts in Islamic Finance from the UK, Malaysia and Turkey, the 8th WIEF Roundtable explored the various challenges faced by Turkey in its pursuit to promote a more dynamic Islamic finance industry in the country.
The WIEF Roundtable series is a unique initiative to foster collaboration and networking amongst diverse countries by providing a platform to participants including global leaders, industry think tanks, leading executives and top management and experts in their respective fields to exchange expertise and address specific economic issues of interest to the region.
Key Speakers at the highly interactive Roundtable include:
- The Honourable Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman, WIEF Foundation & Former Deputy Prime Minister of MALAYSIA
- Nail Olpak, President of MUSIAD, TURKEY
- Murat Çetinkaya, Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Republic of TURKEY
- Professor Humayon Dar, Adjunct Professor, INCEIF & Chairman, President & CEO, Edbiz Consulting Limited, UNITED KINGDOM
- Muzaffar Hisham, Chief Executive Officer, Maybank Islamic Berhad, MALAYSIA
- Nihat Gumus, Assistant Director, Research Department, Borsa Istanbul, TURKEY
- Osman ÇELİK, Executive Vice President, Turkiye Finans Participation Bank, TURKEY
“The global picture affecting the Muslim world today leaves much to be desired. Developing, expanding and transforming Islamic Finance is merely one of the many challenges that we need to address together. I fully appreciate that one Roundtable alone could only have a marginal impact in the context of the numerous discussions taking place at different levels on the subject. But to the extent that we are able to even initiate the holding of this Roundtable and to assemble together a group of participants passionate enough in promoting the gradual recognition and acceptance of Islamic Finance globally, we should be more than contented that we have at least done our part, however small. said the Honourable Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman, WIEF Foundation & Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia.
“Turkey is the world’s 17th largest economy with a predominantly Muslim population of 76 million. It is indisputable that Turkey has a lot of potential in Islamic finance services industry. Global attention has been drawn to explore the challenges faced by Turkey in its pursuit to promote a more dynamic Islamic finance industry in the country. I believe that this Roundtable would address the key priority development areas for market players to methodically expand and deepen the Islamic finance sector’s ecosystem for a more sustainable industry.” said Mr. Nail Olpak, President of MUSIAD.
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For media enquiries, please contact:
MUSIAD
Özer Balkız |Director, Economic Research | +90-212-395 3420 | ozer.balkiz@musiad.org.tr
WIEF Foundation
Shabana Palpanaban | shabana@wief.org |+6012 375 4957
About the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation
The WIEF Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation based in Kuala Lumpur, organises the annual World Islamic Economic Forum, a world-class business platform showcasing business opportunities in the Muslim world. The Foundation also runs programmes under the WIEF Businesswomen Network (WBN), WIEF Young Leaders Network (WYN) and the WIEF Education Trust (WET) and the WIEF Roundtable Series, aimed at strengthening people partnership and knowledge exchange between Muslim and non-Muslim communities across the globe. Some of the Foundation’s initiatives include the roundtable discussions, leadership programmes, knowledge transfer and skill development workshops, business networking forums, internship and scholarship programmes, the Young Fellows Programme and the Marketplace of Creative Arts Festival (MOCAfest). For more information on the WIEF Foundation, please visit www.wief.org.
WIEF Roundtables Series
The WIEF Foundation also organises Roundtables in different countries to exchange expertise and address economic challenges in a more personalised scale.
- Since its launch in Bahrain in February 2011, the WIEF Foundation had organised Roundtables in Turkey, Russia, South Africa and Bangladesh.
- This year, the foundation aims at organising similar Roundtables in Istanbul, India and South Korea with close discussions with Japan and Shanghai to hold the roundtables in 2015.
MÜSİAD (Independent Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association)
MÜSİAD is a non-profit, voluntary based “Businessmen’s Association” founded in İstanbul on May 5, 1990, by a group of mindful businessmen who set out with the dream of an integrated Turkey that is economically and politically efficient in its region, and is prestigious at the global scale; a Turkey where rights, law, justice, equality, peace, trust, prosperity, and happiness prevail; and where local and universal values entrenched in history and society are closely observed.
With more than 7,000 members, MÜSİAD stands as a powerful NGO that;
- Represents approximately 35.000 companies, contribution to 18 % of Turkey’s GDP with 17 billion US Dollars of exports, 5 billion US dollars of investment and employing 1.500.000 people,
- Have branch offices and representatives in 76 cities nationwide,
- Serves internationally in 148 allied contact points in 56 countries with 4 active representatives.
Bearing the status of a “public benefit society”, MÜSİAD is a model education, guidance, and consultancy center not only for the business world but also for all other segments of the society, and that carries out its practices and work on strictly professional grounds.