Over 1,200 delegates from over 50 countries are set to join the leaders from the global Islamic finance industry at the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference (WIBC 2011) in Bahrain, confirming the Kingdom’s position as the leading global hub for Islamic finance.
“The Kingdom of Bahrain for many years has played a leading role in the development of the international Islamic finance industry. The Kingdom has managed to advance its leadership position as the international hub for Islamic finance due its strong fundamentals, pioneering initiatives and world-class regulatory environment, not to mention its continued efforts and initiatives in developing skilled resources and enhancing existing ones on different fields of Islamic finance,” David McLean, Managing Director of the World Islamic Banking Conference, said.
“The World Islamic Banking Conference has been held in the Kingdom of Bahrain for many years and has become synonymous with the success of Islamic banking in Bahrain. We are extremely delighted with the tremendous support extended by the Central Bank of Bahrain to WIBC 2011 and we look forward to returning to the Kingdom for yet another successful global gathering of the industry’s leaders in November this year.”
“A global event of the scale of WIBC is an outstanding platform for leading Bahraini institutions to showcase their leadership to the world as the Kingdom has many positive growth stories to tell regarding the exceptional development of the country’s financial services industry and its significant contribution to Bahrain’s GDP,” McLean added.
The event, which has over the years become the world’s largest and most influential annual gathering of Islamic finance leaders, is again held with the strategic support of the Central Bank of Bahrain.
“Bahrain has a long and proud history in supporting the progress of Islamic finance. The Kingdom continues to play a pioneering role in the advancement of industry standards, best practices and in developing a strong regulatory structure,” Khalid Hamad, Executive Director of Banking Supervision at the Central Bank of Bahrain, said.
“We look forward to welcoming back the global stage of the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference to the Kingdom of Bahrain and to continuing its tradition of supporting growth and innovation in the international Islamic finance industry. The past few years were so challenging for Islamic finance but at the same time the future raises several business development potentials and opportunities which we are all looking forward to explore during the 18th Annual World Islamic Banking Conference,” he said.
WIBC 2011 is scheduled to be held from the 21st to the 23rd of November 2011 at the Gulf International Conventional and Exhibition Centre at the Gulf Hotel. The Asia summit of the World Islamic Banking Conference is being held on the 8th and 9th of June 2011 in Singapore.