Islamic banking assets in Qatar were valued at $97bn by the end of 2017, which constituted nearly 81% of the total Islamic finance assets, said QFC Authority chief executive officer Yousuf Mohamed al-Jaida.
In the past five years, the growth of Islamic banking industry assets in Qatar has outpaced that of the conventional banking industry, he said at an event here on Monday.
This, he said “demonstrated the undeniable robustness and resilience of Qatar’s Islamic banking sector. Additionally, in 2018, the Qatar Stock Exchange listed the world’s largest single-country Islamic exchange-traded fund. All of these point to Qatar’s prominent position as an international and regional hub for Islamic finance.”
The fourth industrial revolution, driven forth by digital innovation and the ever-increasing digitalisation of the economy has touched virtually every aspect of business and banking.
“Islamic finance is of course no exception to this,” al-Jaida said at a press conference held to announce the hosting of 5th Doha Islamic Finance Conference on March 19.
The digital world has single-handedly altered the financial services industry and has in fact given rise to an entirely new subsector, financial technology, or fintech.
“The changes that we are witnessing every day have significant implications for Islamic finance, especially considering the industry’s importance and potential for growth,” al-Jaida said.
Islamic finance assets are forecast to be worth $3.2tn by 2020, according to Thomson Reuters.
“It is clear that an industry of this size must embrace the unstoppable wave of digitalisation, which presents many benefits and advantages,” al-Jaida said.
The upcoming 5th Doha Islamic Finance Conference will provide an incredibly valuable platform to discuss not only the impact of the digital world on Islamic finance, but also the role it will inevitably play in realising sustainable development.
The Qatar National Vision 2030 emphasises both digitalisation of the economy, as well as sustainable development – both of which the QFC is truly committed to developing.
“As you are aware, Islamic finance is a key area of focus for the QFC, and is included as one of our main target industries in our recently-announced strategy
“We are confident that this conference will address this vital topic by bringing together some of the best minds in the Islamic Finance industry, from academia and also from business, and we look forward to the thought-provoking discussions that will surely result from this,” al-Jaida said.
