Islamic finance takes root Down Under
By Paul McNamara & The Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce & Industry has announced that the inaugural Australia Arab Business Forum & Expo will be held in Melbourne on May 5-6. The event has a dedicated section devoted to Islamic finance and to exploring the opportunities open to Middle Eastern Islamic finance institutions wishing to take advantage of Australia's robust and growing economy.
"The scale of projects being undertaken in MENA is truly staggering, with governments, government linked or owned companies and the private sector investing trillions into a BRoad array of infrastructure projects that support national objectives and diversification away from reliance on petrodollars," according to AACCI CEO Cynthia Dearin. The banking and finance section of the conference will focus on trends in Islamic finance, the regulatory framework for investment in the Arab World and the growth of Arab world financial centers. It will seek to profile how opportunities can be created for Australia's financial institutions. Expert speakers in this section include Dr Nasser Saidi, chief economist from the Dubai International Financial Centre, Dr Ishaq Bhatti, director, Masters of Islamic Banking and Finance, Faculty of Law & Management, La Trobe University in Melbourne and Ian Johnston, deputy chief executive of the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
Islamic finance developments in Australia have been unspectacular to date and the taxation review of Islamic finance products is still ongoing with a report due in June. Both state and federal governments have highlighted the fact that their desire is to 'level the playing field' for Islamic finance products and services from both a taxation and a regulatory point of view although there is some indication that not all views on the subject are in harmony.
Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is reported to have said in a background BRiefing to party colleagues that Shari'ah is incompatible with Australia's western values. He also said he wanted to ensure the Liberal Party opposed any move to introduce any form of Shari'ah law banking in Australia.
The opposition's legal affairs spokesman, George Brandis said it would be a bad thing if a separate set of laws applied only to one particular sub-group of the community. "I see nothing wrong with that as long as it doesn't violate... a common set of laws that governs all transactions." Finance minister Penny Wong said that when it came to Islamic finance, the government was still looking at the recommendations of a review into financial services. "We are an open and tolerant society. We have made our way and done well in the world by being open and competitive and tolerant."
© The Islamic Globe 2011¬
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