Oman events: First Salalah forum on Islamic finance begins

Salalah: Major challenges and solutions of the Islamic finance sector are on the agenda of the 1st Salalah International Forum on Islamic Finance (SIFIF) which opened at the Rotana Hotel, Salalah on Sunday.
The forum was opened under the patronage of Sayyid Mohammed bin Sultan Al Busaidi, Minister of State and Governor of Dhofar.
The five-day forum is being organised by the College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), in cooperation with Tawafuq Consultancy, Malaysia.
"The Sultanate's banking sector is witnessing a moderate growth in credit and deposits," said Hamoud bin Sangour Al Zedjali, Executive President of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), referring to the Sultanate's adoption of Islamic banking in early 2013 to diversify banking and financial services in the local market.
The forum is held in line with the increasing growth of the importance of Islamic finance at the local, regional and international levels. The forum aims at highlighting major challenges facing this sector and presenting and discussing appropriate solutions.
The forum includes four main themes: Consolidation of Islamic Fatwa in Islamic Finance, Relationship between Islamic Finance and Economic Development, Takaful Insurance, Legislation and Resolution of Islamic Financial Disputes.
On the sidelines of the forum, training workshops will be held for three days in the areas of Takaful insurance, Sukuk and Islamic financial disputes.
The forum aims to address the importance and role of Islamic finance in providing new and innovative solutions that contribute to
economic diversification, as well as discussing cooperation and exchange of expertise among specialists in the field of Islamic finance, in addition to reviewing the international experiences in the field of Islamic finance and discussing the challenges that hinder growth and prosperity.