Islamic finance must boost professional staff: experts

“We also need varieties of venture capital institutions, small and medium financing institutions specialized in financing, leasing, etc,” he said.

As global regulatory bodies revise financial regulations to prevent future financial crises, Islamic regulatory and accounting standards must also improve, Ahmad said.

While the previous approach focused on regulating individual Islamic financial institutions, regulatory bodies should now adopt a comprehensive strategy to address both macro and micro-economic issues.

Muliaman Hadad, deputy governor of the Bank of Indonesia, said one of the key challenges was producing much-needed professional staff to deal with Shariah-compliant financial products.

EDUCATION

Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, will also launch an education campaign across the country to help people — including bankers, bureaucrats, students and religious leaders — understand Islamic finance better.

Tunc Tahsin Uyanic, a sector manager for the World Bank in the East Asia and Pacific region, offered the bank’s assistance in personnel training, education, policy direction, development of new financial instruments and regulation.