Dubai: A delegation from Tecom Investments, led by Dr. Ayoub Kazim, Managing Director of Dubai Knowledge Village (DKV) and Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), visited Malaysia to meet with representatives of various Islamic finance academic institutions in order to look into having them set up in Dubai.
During their visit, the delegation looked into academic programmes and courses supporting various sectors of Islamic economics, such as Islamic finance, Sharia-compliant funds, Sukuk, Murabaha and laws, as well as the regulatory frameworks related to Islamic finance.
“Demand for skilled talent in the field of Islamic finance has never been so high. As a home for the region’s education and training institutes, we have an important role to play in enhancing our educational offerings. This is through bringing academic institutions and research centres that tailor their programmes to meet industry demands. Our trip to Malaysia represents our continuous striving to attract relevant academic institutions that can provide quality education across all levels, covering graduate, undergraduate, and vocational training courses. We are looking forward to further strengthening our cooperation with Malaysian academic institutions,” Dr. Kazim said,
Research centres
The delegation’s visit took in various Malaysia-based research centres and universities specialising in Islamic finance, including the International Islamic University Malaysia and The Global University of Islamic Finance (INCEIF), who are world renowned for their Islamic finance programmes which the delegation is aiming to bring to DIAC.
The visit also aimed to attract established governmental professional development centres, such as the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), to DKV. Leads were also established in the field of Islamic finance research and development, covering institutions like the Kuwait Finance House, with discussions covering methods to support the industry in Dubai and the wider UAE.
This visit also covered the Labuan International Business and Finance Centre (Labuan IBFC Inc), whose current research efforts focus on Islamic Wealth Management and who expressed interest in establishing a branch of their research centre in Dubai.
Best practices
The delegation was seeking ways to establish links between Malaysian academic and training providers with the current existing partners in DKV and DIAC, in order to support their well-established programmes in Islamic finance and economy. They focused on learning from best practices and attracting experts and talent to training centres and academic institutions within DIAC and DKV, and the UAE in general.
The trip to Malaysia came in light of the finance sector findings of the Workforce Planning Study, launched by DIAC and commissioned to Deloitte, which identified some of the major themes and skills gaps within the fast-growing Islamic finance sector. The study revealed that dedicated Islamic banking skills are in high demand from GCC banks, particularly at entry level, closely followed by financial risk management and customer segmentation and analytics skills.
“We will continue to support the vision of His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to create a sustainable knowledge-based economy and to transform Dubai into a centre for Islamic Finance,” Kazim said.
