Istanbul meet discusses Islamic banking, finance

By Tuba Sahin

ISTANBUL (AA) - A four-day training on Islamic Banking and Finance brought together representatives of central banks and relevant authorities from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan and Turkey.

The training was conducted by the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC) in collaboration with the Istanbul School of Central Banking (ISCB) and the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC).

The event that ended Thursday provided an overview of existing financial products, explained how Islamic financial institutions operate and elaborated on the main differences between conventional banking and finance, and the sharia compliant banking.

Hani Salem Sonbol, the CEO of ITFC, stated that the cumulative financing extended to Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) region reached $1.1 billion since the inception of the ITFC in 2008.

"ITFC is committed to enhance the collaboration further not only in financing activities but also in capacity development, especially to further promote Islamic finance and increase its share in the overall banking sector of CIS countries in cooperation with central banks,” Sonbol said.

Sonbol underlined that promotion and development of Islamic finance would be one of the tools to provide alternate source of financing to private sector and secure sustainable development in coming years.

Mehmet Fatih Serenli, the training and technology cooperation director of SESRIC, said the institution will continue its efforts to facilitate the transfer of knowledge, experience and best practices among member states.

ITFC, a member of the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) Group, was established with the purpose of advancing trade among Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries.

Since 2008, ITFC has provided more than $45.4 billion of trade financing to OIC member states. The corporation helps entities gain better access to trade finance and provides them with the necessary trade-related capacity building tools, which would enable them to successfully compete in the global market.