The 4th International Conference on Islamic Banking and Finance
November 4-5, 2020
The international conference on Islamic banking and finance (ICIBF) is a leading conference that addresses the challenges, breakthroughs and new models in accordance with the Shariah Principles, thereby making the organizations socially beneficial. Given the Covid-19 situation, the two-day conference was organized to highlight ambiguities caused by the pandemic and how it will impact Islamic banking and finance. The conference also highlighted the gap in policies devised to curb the losses caused by the pandemic and how academia can contribute to reverse the impact with insightful research. The conference theme was "Post Pandemic Challenges to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Pakistan and the way forward for Islamic Financial Institutions".
The 4th ICIBF was organized in a hybrid mode on November 4-5, 2020, by the Institute of Business Management (IoBM), Karachi, in collaboration with the Association of Management Development Institutions in Pakistan (AMDIP), LA Trobe University, Australia, Centre for Islamic Finance-COMSATS University, Islamabad Lahore Campus, Al Baraka Bank, Pakistan, Bank Islami Pakistan Ltd., International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF, Malaysia), Al Meezan Investment Management Ltd., Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), Bahrain, IRTI-IsDB Jeddah, IIMA-UK, NBP Funds Management Pakistan and Higher Education Commission Pakistan.
The day one of the conference started with the welcome address by Mr Talib S. Karim, President IoBM and Vice President AMDIP; followed by Mr Bashir Janmohammad, Chancellor IoBM, Mr Syed Amir Ali, President & CEO Bank Islami Pakistan, Mr Ahmed Shuja Kidwai, President & CEO Al Baraka Bank Pakistan Ltd., and Chief Guest Dr Ishrat Hussain, PM's Adviser on Institutional Reforms and Austerity.
More than 20 International Speakers from the USA, UK, Australia, Germany, Malaysia, Kosovo, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia & India participated in the conference to share their research & expertise. Around 50 national speakers (most of them were Presidents, CEOs, Business heads, Shariah Advisors of Islamic Financial Institutions) were also part of this assemblage.
The keynote addresses were delivered by Mr Syed Irfan Ali, Managing Director of Deposit Protection Corporation, State Bank of Pakistan, Dr Amjad Saqib, Chairman & Founder Akhuwat Foundation, Lahore; Mr Sajjad Anwer, Chief Investment Officer, NBP Fund Management Ltd; Dr Dawood Ashraf, Senior Economist, Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) Jeddah-KSA and Prof. Dr Kabeer Hasan, Department of Economics and Finance, University of New Orleans, USA.
The panel discussion followed that comprised of Industry heads and professionals sharing their insights regarding the scope of Islamic Banking and Finance in Pakistan and the impact that Covid-19 has created. The panellists included Mr Sajjad Anwer, Chief Investment Officer, NBP Fund Management Ltd; Mr Syed Irfan Ali, Managing Director of Deposit Protection Corporation, SBP; Dr Amjad Saqib, Chairman & founder Akhuwat Foundation, Lahore; Mr Sitwat Rizvi, Secretary Shariah Board, Dubai Islamic Bank Ltd. Pakistan; Mr Muhammad Faisal Shaikh, Head Islamic Banking Faysal Bank Ltd. After the insightful panel discussion, the paper presentations brought together academicians. They provided them with an opportunity to present, discuss, and share their suggestions regarding Islamic Banking during the Covid-19.
The post-lunch break session consisted of addresses by Prof. Dato' Dr Azmi Omar, President INCEIF Int. University of Islamic Finance-Malaysia; Prof. Dr Abdulbari Mashal, Managing Partner, Raqaba Shariah Audit & Islamic Financial Advisory-USA; Mr Muhammad Ayoub, Director Research and Training, Riphah Centre of Islamic Business (RCIB), Riphah International University, Islamabad; Dr Asad Zaman, Member Economic Advisory Committee of Prime Minister of Pakistan & Member of Monetary Policy Committee of State Bank of Pakistan. It was moderated by Dr Shagufta Ghauri, IoBM, Karachi.
The sub-theme of the conference was "Impact of Covid-19 outbreak on Pakistani Economy in General and on MSMEs in particular – The role of Islamic Financial Institutions", which was addressed by Mr Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Senior Executive Vice President, PDSC, Meezan Bank Ltd; Dr Muhammad Zubair Ashraf Usmani – Chairman Shariah Board UBL Ameen & HBL Islamic; Mr Muhammad Zubair, Chief Executive Officer of Al-Huda CIBE, Lahore.
The panel discussion that followed was moderated by Conference Convener Dr Imam Uddin, Associate Professor-Accounting & Finance, IoBM. The panellists were Mr Ahmed Ali Siddiqui, Senior Executive Vice President, PDSC, Meezan Bank Ltd; Dr Zeeshan Ahmed, Rector & Dean Karachi School of Business & Leadership (KSBL); Dr Irum Saba Assistant Professor CEIF-IBA, Karachi; Mufti Muhammad Najeeb Khan, Chairman Shariah Board, Sindh Bank Ltd; Mr Kashif Nisar, Head Shariah Compliance Bank Islami Pakistan; Mufti Ehsan Waqar Ahmed- Chairman Sharia'h Board-AIBGNBP and Mr Muhammad Zubair, Chief Executive Officer of Al-Huda CIBE, Lahore.
This was accompanied by an online webinar which started with the introductory addresses of Dr Mansor H. Ibrahim, Deputy President Academic & Dean INCEIF, Malaysia; Dr Muhammad Meki, Senior Fellow of Islamic Finance, Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, Oxford University. The theme of this session was "Roadmap to providing financial assistance and other subsidies through Government & non-banking Financial Institutions for MSMEs", and the panellists were Prof. Dr Mehboob Ul Hassan, Professor Center for Islamic Finance, King Saud University – Riyadh, KSA; Dr Azam Ali, Joint Director Policy Division Islamic Banking Department, State Bank of Pakistan; Mr Farhan-ul-Haq Usmani, Head of Shariah Audit & Advisory, Meezan Bank and Mr Syed Asif Azeem, Regional Head-South Corporate & Institutional Liability Unit Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan.
Day 2 of the conference was initiated with an introductory address by Mr Almir Colan, Director Australian Centre for Islamic Finance (AUSCIF) and CEO at Olive Investments, Australia; Dr Shariq Nisar, Rizvi Institute of Management Studies and Research, University of Mumbai. India and Dr Vehbi Zeqiri, CEO-START' - Islamic Microfinance Institution, Kosovo.
The panel discussion on the theme of "Use of Social Instruments of Islamic Finance by Government & Financial Institutions to help MSMEs in post-Covid-19" was chaired by Dr Imran Qureshi, Director Connecting Aisa – Malaysia. The panellists who were part of the discussion included Mr Almir Colan, Director Australian Centre for Islamic Finance (AUSCIF) and CEO at Olive Investments, Australia; Dr KarimUllah, Head Centre for Excellence in Islamic Finance, IM Sciences, Peshawar; Dr Mufti Ejaz Ahmed Samadani, Member Shariah Board, HBL Islamic and UBL Ameen; Mr Raheel Bhagar Head Shariah Compliance, Soneri Bank Ltd.; Dr Vehbi Zeqiri, CEO-START - Islamic Microfinance Institution, Kosovo and Dr Shariq Nisar, Rizvi Institute of Management Studies and Research, University of Mumbai. India.
The panel discussion was followed by the Research Paper Presentations chaired by Dr Mehboob Ul Hassan, Professor Center for Islamic Finance, King Saud University – Riyadh, KSA and Mr Israr Ahmed, Director QEC, KASBIT.
The second half of the conference entailed an online webinar session addressed by Dr Aly Khorshid, Dean of Management and Economic London University – UK; Dr Hanudin Amin, Associate Professor, Labuan Faculty of International Finance, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia and Dr Muhammad Ashfaq, Program Director Digital Business, IUBH University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
The last panel discussion was chaired by Dr Syed Irfan Hyder – Rector IoBM. The panellists included Dr Aly Khorshid, Dean of Management and Economic London University – UK; Dr Hanudin Amin, Associate Professor, Labuan International Campus, Malaysia; Dr Abdulazeem Abozaid, Associate Prof, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar Foundation, Qatar; Dr Asad Zaman, Member Economic Advisory Committee of Prime Minister of Pakistan & Member of Monetary Policy Committee of State Bank of Pakistan; Mufti Irshad Ahmed Aijaz, Chairman Bank Islami Pakistan; Dr M Ishaq Bhatti, La Trobe Business School (LBS), La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia and Mr Irfan Ahmed, Head of Sharia Compliance, Bank Islami Pakistan Ltd.
The paper presentations alongside were being chaired by Dr Muhammad Kashif, HoD Management Sciences, SZABIST. The online webinar session was also conducted on the theme of "Management approach to subsidizing profits to serve a marginalized population of the country in post-COVID-19" right after the presentations.
The conference was concluded with the keynote addresses by Mr Azhar Aslam, Head of Islamic Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, Pakistan; Mr Bilal Rasul, Executive Director, Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP); Syed Rizwan Hussain, CEO Takaful Pakistan and Dr Mehboob Ul Hassan, Professor Center for Islamic Finance, King Saud University – Riyadh, KSA. A vote of thanks was delivered by Ms Tazeen Arsalan, HoD Accounting & Finance Department & Chief Organizer.
The Post-conference workshop with an aim to equip the research scholars with the essential understanding of research papers writing strategies was delivered by Prof. Dr Shujat Mubarak, Associate Dean CBM, IoBM Karachi, on "How to Write and Publish for Impact Factor". Overall the two-days conference consisted of five-panel discussions, 40 research papers presentations and one post-conference workshop.