H.E. Abdul Qadir Fitrat, Governor, Central Bank Afghanistan

Kabul (Press Release) International Conference on Prospects of Islamic Banking and Finance in Afghanistan organized by AlHuda CIBE, Pakistan ends at Intercontinental Hotel Kabul-Afghanistan. H.E. Abdul Qadir Fitrat, Governor, Central Bank Afghanistan, Finance Minister, Minster of Haj and Awqaf, Heads of all banks, Insurance companies, Microfinance companies, government officials and employees of the finance companies of Afghanistan gave privilege by participating in the conference. Speakers and research scholars from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Poland, UAE, Canada, UK, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Pakistan shared their scholarly knowledge who delivered erudite speeches and research dialogues in the conference.

In the inaugural speech, H.E. Abdul Qadir Fitrat, Governor, Central Bank Afghanistan said that we are working on implementing the regulation of Islamic banking in Afghanistan very swiftly and we are hoping that will be implemented in the country within next two months which will surely open up new several prospects for the promotion of Islamic banking and finance in Afghanistan in near future. He added that currently 7 banks are offering Islamic banking services through window operations while few banks have submitted their applications for the conversion of their conventional systems into Islamic operative systems. Banks can open Islamic banking stand alone branches Central Bank of Afghanistan is in the process of taking deep analysis of Islamic banking laws of Pakistan, UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia. He praised the regulatory framework of State Bank of Pakistan in this regard. He paid sheer appreciation to the step taken by AlHuda Centre CIBE Pakistan for the promotion of Islamic banking and finance in Afghanistan.

Muhammad Zubair Mughal, Chief Executive Officer, AlHuda CIBE Pakistan said that Afghanistan is a developing market for Islamic banking and finance where the trend of Shairah complaint banking is rapidly ascending. He denoted that Afghanistan is the country of 2 Crore and 90 lacs inhabitants where Muslim population is by and far 99% who are willing to mould their businesses and life styles according to the Islamic principles. But Afghanistan has not been able to achieve the quick and desirable response because of the lack of human resources and technical assistance in the pertinent filed. For fulfilling this lacking, AlHuda CIBE has started its campaign in Afghanistan. He further highlighted that along with Islamic banking and finance potential, Afghanistan does hold the good enough probability for Takaful, Sukuk and Islamic Funds. By releasing Sukuk bonds, Afghanistan can generate financing for road development, infrastructure development, energy development and on many more development projects. He said that Pakistan, Malaysia, UAE, Kuwait and other countries have various options for the development of Islamic financial organizations/institutes in Afghanistan which will further strengthen the Islamic banking and finance industry of Afghanistan.

International Conference on Prospects of Islamic Banking and Finance in Afghanistan at Intercontinental Hotel Kabul-Afghanistan received tremendous applause of Afghanistan government bodies and banking & financial industry in which 26 well-known scholars from 12 countries delivered their speeches and research dialogues.