IIUM helping to build up Islamic finance talent pool

By Roziana Hamsawi
International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) is helping to build up the pool of skilled professionals to serve in the Islamic finance sector, reports Business Times.
Its Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF) has so far signed eight memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and collaborations with local and foreign institutions in the areas of training and research since its inception four years ago, said the business section of the New Straits Times.
One of the MOUs involved IIiBF offering a PhD programme in Islamic banking and finance in Bahrain to develop Syariah manuals and banking products.
The MOU will also offer training and consultancy in Malaysia and abroad, IIUM rector Professor Datuk Seri Dr Syed Arabi Idid (picture) said at the soft launch ceremony of IIiBF Damansara campus in Kuala Lumpur yesterday [Mar 21] by Bank Negara Malaysia deputy governor Datuk Mohd Razif Abd Kadir.
Syed Arabi said since 2005, IIiBF has offered postgraduate diploma in Islamic banking and PhD in Islamic Banking and Finance. It will soon offer Master of Science in Islamic Banking and Finance.
He said certificate programmes in Sri Lanka and a joint programme with an institution in Singapore have also been conducted.
Within the next five years, five more academic programmes and professional certificate courses are in the pipeline involving institutions from countries such as China, India, Maldives, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and the UK, he said.
IIiBF currently has 78 students, where 30 of them are foreigners from 15 countries.
Syed Arabi said with the new campus, student population is expected to increase by two third to 130 within the next two years.
He added that IIiBF aspires to become an international centre of excellence for education and research in Islamic banking and finance, in line with Malaysia's position to be the international Islamic financial hub.
He said Bank Negara Malaysia's encouragement that institutions of higher learning get more involved to meet the manpower needs of the Islamic finance industry is highly welcomed. (Business Times, Mar 21, 2009)