From its humble beginning, IBFIM’s Knowledge Management Centre (KMC) has grown to become the one-stop reference centre for the Islamic Finance Industry in the Asian region.
The centre, which started from providing books and other materials for its domestic customers, now provides a whole range of research materials and references on Islamic Finance for both local and international customers.
What makes us unique is that our wide range of research materials and references is used not only for scholarly research but also as reference for practical product development, which caters for professionals in Islamic Finance,” according to Mohd Zain Abdul Rahman, Head, of KMC in IBFIM.
Technically, our endeavour began with providing niche reference material, starting with just translation of scholary books, especially in Arabic to the mainstream language such as English. As demand for Islamic Finance materials increased, we grew along with the increased needs of the market.
IBFIM’s KMC is now also in publishing and has so far published 71 titles under its brand. What makes this more relevant is that its authors are mostly practitioners and scholars coming from financial institutions who are recognised globally for their expertise.
Our publications are also recognised not only by regulators and practitioners, but also by institutions of higher learning. For example, some of our best seller titles, covering the subjects of fundamental of Islamic banking, Shari’a application and Islamic banking practices, have been utilised as reference for local and foreign universities from Asean, Japan, the Middle East and even in the UK,” Mohd Zain said.
One reason why IBFIM publications have a good coverage in the market is because of its pricing strategy where most of its products are priced at very competitive rates versus other publications with a similar niche.
If you look in the market right now, knowledge transfer reference resources in Islamic Finance are quite expensive to come by. That is why we have decided to price our products below international market prices to attract and enhance interest in our publications and to accelerate knowledge transfer of Islamic finance,” he added.
Currently at IBFIM’s KMC, there are more than 23,000 Shari’a & Islamic Finance publications in Arabic, English and Malay and over 800 titles of special collection on history of money, banking and finance. That makes an attractive draw for scholars, professionals and even the public to visit the centre, located in Kuala Lumpur.
RECOGNITION & EXPANSION
Our value proposition to our customers comes from two key factors. Firstly, we have the shared advantage of direct industry knowledge and secondly, we have a complete value chain for knowledge transfer which starts from research to distribution of publications. That is why our customers believe in what we do, including the regulators and industry players,” he said.
IBFIM KMC’s publications have received several awards but the most memorable was the Best International Rights during the Frankfurt Book fair in 2011. This was because the publication on Islamic finance was practical in writing and of international standard.
In the future IBFIM KMC is already looking to participate at several potential international book fairs. It expects that the demand for Islamic Finance reference publications will continue to grow. IBFIM KMC is also looking forward to work as joint publishers for several organisations which include the regulator and the industry.
IBFIM KMC acknowledges that its customer base has gone beyond catering to the local market. As such it is planning to introduce some of its publications online towards the 4th quarter of 2015.
We understand technology has changed many facets of printed publications, which is why we are looking forward to introduce some of our books with high demand to be made available online”. Mr Zain added, “At the end of the day our most important deliverable value is about transfer of knowledge, that’s what makes us different from the rest. IBFIM’s KMC is more than just a library of Islamic finance; it is a publisher, distributor and disseminator of Islamic finance knowledge.
