Islamic finance at crucial growth stage

KUALA LUMPUR: The Islamic finance industry needs to redefine and establish the enabling environment to spur its next phase of growth, says Securities Commission executive director for Islamic capital market Zainal Izlan Zainal Abidin.

He said the industry is currently at a crucial stage as it moves to the next growth phase, which will be dominated by greater internationalisation.

In the next phase, more product issues and service providers are expected to expand beyond their home markets, where investors will be seeking products or instruments with international exposure.

"There would also be greater diversity in terms of currencies used in issuing syariah-compliant instruments," said Zainal Izlan in his welcome remarks at the 7th Islamic Markets Programme (IMP) yesterday.

He said Islamic finance has developed into an industry with global appeal, marked by a 15 per cent average annual growth rate over the past decade to reach US$1.3 trillion (RM4.1 trillion) today.

Malaysia's Islamic capital market is expected to grow at an average of 10.6 per cent per year, over the 10-year period to 2020, according to the Capital Market Masterplan 2.

Zainal Izlan noted that Islamic finance has developed not only in traditional Muslim markets like Malaysia and the Middle East, but also in conventional markets and financial centres such as the UK

Themed "Building the Environment for the Growth of Islamic Finance", the IMP attracted 41 local and international participants including Islamic finance practitioners and regulators.