I am pleased to present to you the last issue of volume 5 of ISFIRE, which I am sure you will like for its cover page and the contents that follow. It gave me immense pleasure when I was editing this issue, as the articles and reports included herein are undoubtedly of the highest quality and standard when compared with other magazines and similar publications in the field of IBF.
The cover story features His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan – a country that has made impressive progress in adopting and implementing IBF, in a short span of time. Since the establishment of Al Hilal Bank Kazakhstan in 2010, the country has made steady progress in developing IBF in parallel with its conventional banking and finance, consistent with the so-called dual banking system that has successfully been developed by the likes of Malaysia and numerous other countries. Central to all the IBF-related developments has been the man at the top of the political hierarchy – the President himself – and we thought of interviewing him for this issue of ISFIRE.
In addition to the President’s interview, we have also included a comprehensive article by Nadir Burnashev, Advisor to the Chairman of the Financial Institutions’ Association of Kazakhstan (FIAK), which includes updates on regulatory developments and challenges facing IBF in Kazakhstan.
The fifth Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) took place in Bahrain on September 28, 2015 and this issue provides a comprehensive account of the awards programme and the impressive awards ceremony. The ISFIRE Report also analyses the geographical spread of the GIFA recipients.
Agrobank from Malaysia won the “Upcoming Islamic Bank 2015” award at GIFA, and we thought of sharing its success story of transformation from a conventional into a full-fledged Islamic bank. In this respect, the role of its CEO, Dato’ Wan Mohd Fadzmi Wan Othman, has been highlighted as a spearhead of change and transformation. It is an interesting reading and should be of relevance to those who contemplate converting their conventional banks into full-fledged Islamic banks. In our view, the conversion of conventional banks will bring the quickest further growth in IBF.
This issue also contains an exclusive interview with Marvi Memon, Minister of State and Chairperson of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan. She explains how her involvement in BISP has changed her perspective on life. Also, it is interesting to note that she presents financial inclusion and poverty alleviation as part of the wider agenda of Islamisation of Pakistan’s economy.
Our Personality of the issue is Sheikh Nedham Yaqubi (also known as Sheikh Nizam Yaqubi), arguably the most active Shari’a scholar in the global Islamic financial services industry. He shares with us some untold aspects of his wonderful personality. He is the first Shari’a scholar to feature in our Personality section, as previously only CEOs of Islamic banks, senior lawyers and similar personalities have featured in this respect.
There are some other articles included in this issue of ISFIRE, which I am sure our readers will find of interest and relevance.
ISFIRE continues to bring analyses, stories, interviews and personal insights for our readers. The choice of personalities covered in this issue is interesting – a president, a minister, a Shari’a scholar and a conventional banker wishing to enter into Islamic banking.
Happy reading!
