ALIZZ Islamic bank Annual General Meeting values the Shari'a supervisory procedures

Roundup Tuesday 14/December/2021 13:17 PM
By: Times News Service
ALIZZ Islamic bank Annual General Meeting values the Shari'a supervisory procedures

Muscat: The Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Alizz Islamic Bank expressed its appreciation of the sincere efforts made by the board and executive management to strengthen the Shari'a Supervisory Procedures, which in turn contributes to promoting the bank as a leading financial institution in the Islamic banking sector. This Annual General Meeting was held in the banks head office in Ruwi. It was chaired by Mr. Yahya Said Al Jabri, Chairman of the board of directors and attended by shareholders and Mr. Sulaiman Al Harthi, the Chief Executive Officer of the bank.

The board highlighted the bank’s role in promoting various packages of media and informative messages to increase awareness about the role played by Islamic banking and community initiatives. The bank, from time to time, appoints new resources with bright ideas to push Islamic banking forward. As part of these efforts, the general assembly approved the board’s proposal regarding the appointment of H.E. Sheikh Dr. Ibrahim Al Sawafi as a member in the Shari’a Supervisory Board.

In this context, Mr. Sulaiman Al Harthi, Chief Executive Officer of Alizz Islamic Bank, said: “Our approach is based on a number of key principles, primarily investment in our communities and increasing media messages and packages to enhance awareness about the role of Islamic banking. Since I assumed my leadership position in the bank, I talked to the team about the importance of developing a prudent strategy so that Alizz Islamic Bank will be a leader of Islamic banking in the Sultanate.

We already started implementation of this strategy by launching several initiatives, the last of which was ‘Manar Alizz : A will is a religious and cultural value’. Such initiatives were widely welcomed as it revives the sunna practice of writing ‘wills’. We seek to implement this initiative across the governorates of the Sultanate. In addition, we launched the Orphan’s crowdfunding program in collaboration with the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs to support 1000 orphans in the Sultanate in aspects relating to financial management, as well as our Manar Alizz initiative that aims at increasing awareness about Islamic economy and its developmental role and the role of Islamic banks in sustainable economy, and providing researchers and scholars with necessary knowledge regarding Islamic economy, in general, and  the Omani Islamic Banking experience, in particular. We have other initiatives in the pipeline to support the society.”

Mr. Al Harthi added that the growth of Islamic banking industry is promoted by the high demand on Shari’a - compliant products, not only by experts and professionals, but also by investors and customers all over the world, which makes it a global financial industry. In addition to its vast geographical expansion, Islamic banking is witnessing significant growth across different financial activities, including personal transactions, Islamic insurance and investments in instruments of capital markets.

Data on the Islamic Banking Sector indicate that the total fund balance granted by units practicing this activity increased to ~OMR 4.7 bn by the end of September 2021, i.e. %12.9 higher compared to the same period last year. Further, deposits in Islamic Banks and programs increased by %13.7, i.e. amounting to OMR 4.3 bn by the end of September 2021. As for the value of total assets in Islamic banks and programs, collectively, it amounted to ~OMR 5.8 bn; i.e. %15.3 of total assets of the banking sector in the Sultanate, by the end of September 2021.

It is worth noting that Alizz Islamic Bank managed to overcome several difficulties. Despite the years of losses, the pandemic had its impacts on all sectors, and the local and global economic challenges, the bank’s team changed the course of events and made net profits to shareholders, which marked the beginning of a new and promising era for the bank.