Tuesday 2nd June
The Deputy Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Councillor Chauhdry Abdul Rashid, and other guests from the business and academic community took part in a conference at ABS which looked at how the West Midlands, and the UK as a whole, could tap into the potential offered by the emerging multi-billion-pound Islamic finance market.
The half-day event, entitled Islamic Business: The Way Forward, brought together a range of speakers from academia, finance and law to look at the potential for positioning Birmingham as an Islamic finance hub.
Aston Business School lecturer Dr Omneya Abdelsalam, who has organised and chaired the event, said one of the key themes was to look at ways to rebrand Birmingham as a centre for international Islamic businesses.
Dr Abdelsalam said: 'The West Midlands has real opportunity with the large pool of legal, accounting, banking professionals who can lead the way in developing Islamic finance in the UK and around the world. In addition, the West Midlands very successful entrepreneurs have great potential in attracting Sharia-compliant funds to invest here or provide project finance for projects.
'Investement in training and formal qualifications will be vital to attract and maintain the right level of professionals to allow a fast growing industry to develop. Aston Business School is leading in this field with new executive and post graduate courses are going to be offered in the near future.'
Key speakers included:
- Keith Leach, Head of Alburaq (Arab Banking Corporation)
- Omar Shaikh, Ernst & Young
- Professor Habib Ahmed, Sharjah Chair in Islamic Law & Finance at Durham University
- Ms Aziza Atta, Norton Rose
- Mike loftus, Locate Birmingham
- Imran Pasha, Islamic Bank of Britain
- Mohammed Nazir, Nazir Associates
- Mohammad Sheikh, HSBC Amanah
- Farrukh Raza, IFAAS
The event was well attended by approximately 70 delegates.
Words by Ruth Green
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