UAE eyes Dubai as Islamic economy hub

Officials at the signing ceremony

The UAE’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) recently signed a MoU with Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) to boost co-ordination on matters related to the strategic plan for ‘Dubai the Capital of Islamic Economy 2017-2021’.

The agreement aims to strengthen the UAE’s position and enhance Dubai as the capital of the Islamic economy, said a statement from MoF.

The Dubai Islamic Economy Development Center plans to update the strategy for ‘Dubai the Capital of Islamic Economy’ to be aligned with UAE Vision 2021 and Dubai plan 2021, as well as other current developments.

The MoU was signed by Younis Haji Al Khoori, undersecretary of MoF, and Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, chief executive officer at Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre.

Al Khoori stressed the importance of signing a MoU for its significant role in strengthening mutual coordination and cooperation.

He also highlighted the ministry’s influential role during the first phase of the strategy, which was reflected in the coordination of several meetings to review proposals and present initiatives in international and regional conferences.

The ministry, he stated, was working closely with international and regional financial institutions such as Islamic Development Bank (IDB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to develop the initiative of ‘Dubai as the Capital of Islamic Economy’.

An agreement was signed with IDB on developing the Islamic economy and Islamic banking sector in 2013, making the bank the largest sukuk issuer on Nasdaq Dubai.

“The ministry seeks to strengthen cooperation with various local, regional and international organisations to benefit from different expertise in putting in place a legislative framework to develop the Islamic finance sector and support two way trading,” stated Al Khoori.

“This in turn helps in the rise of the Islamic finance industry as well achieving UAE vision 2021 and Dubai plan 2021,” he said.

“The ministry has contributed its part across different organisations to develop the initiative and strengthen the Islamic financial system, to serve the economic policy and highlight the active role of joint strategic partnership,” he added.

Al Awar said the agreement represents a step further in achieving its strategic objectives to position Dubai and UAE as pioneer of Islamic economy in the world besides establishing strategic partnerships for the prosperity of the industry, and contributing to developing a knowledge based infrastructure of the Islamic economy.-TradeArabia News Service