Bank Indonesia’s Governor opens the IFSB Summit

15 November 2019, Jakarta, Indonesia - The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) Summit 2019, themed “Islamic Finance for Sustainable Development in the Era of Technological Innovation”, commenced with opening remarks by the Secretary General of the IFSB Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta and a Keynote Speeches by H.E. Dr. Perry Warjiyo, the Governor of Bank Indonesia and Chairman of IFSB Executive Committee, Dr. Zeti Aziz recipient of Royal Award for Islamic Finance and former Governor Bank Negara Malaysia and a Special Keynote message from the Prime Minister of Malaysia, Honourable Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad. The one and a half day IFSB Summit 2019 is being held in the Jakarta Convention Center on 13 and 14 November 2019 and is hosted by Bank Indonesia.

In his opening address, the Secretary-General of the IFSB, Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta, highlighted that the theme of the Summit points to the future of Islamic finance. He also stressed that economic challenges, environmental awareness and technological innovations will change the traditional understanding of how the financial industry should operate. Sustainability is a growing concern among investors, industry players and regulators who have become particularly concerned about environmental impacts of financial activities.

Dr. Bello Lawal Danbatta further outlined that the technological developments have led to the emergence of conceptual innovations and new tools in the Islamic financial services industry. However, these developments need a strong regulatory, supervisory and legal underpinning that can facilitates the mainstreaming of the instruments. The IFSB is well-aware of these trends and will address and harness the emerging issues of the technological innovation.