Bahrain will host the Fifth Annual World Islamic Funds and Capital Markets Conference later this year.

Tharawat Investment House, the latest innovative investment company in the kingdom, has said it will sponsor the conference, which will be held on May 25 and 26.

A large number of international bankers and major regional banks are expected to attend the event, which is held with the support of the Central Bank of Bahrain.

It is an opportunity for senior decision-makers in major investment companies to get together with investors in Islamic investment funds worldwide, and a forum for discussing issues of Sharia-compliant investment funds.

Tharawat chief executive Arif Al Alawi said Tharawat is proud to be a partner of this prestigious international conference, which has established itself as the largest gathering event for Islamic world investment institutions.

'We consider this sponsorship as a good opportunity to obtain and provide benefits within this international banking and investment momentum, which we are confident to be a success as the previous events.

'The international financial crisis which has adversely affected the economies of several countries and banks throughout the world, has impacted almost all asset classes and prompted most if not all financial institutions worldwide to review their short-term and long-term strategies and plans,' he said.

While most of the Islamic banks are not direct victims of this turmoil, they have in one way or another been impacted by the crisis, as the investment funds are not safe from the turmoil, Al Alawi said.

'Being a newly established innovative investment house, we at Tharawat strongly believe that this situation will not last long. Rather, it probably provides better opportunities which we have never had in the past. It is therefore that we are sponsoring the investment management summit,' he said.

The conference will discuss several issues, including new developments and innovations in the Islamic investment funds industry, the full potential of the global sukuk market, evaluation of emerging opportunities, creation of liquidity in the Islamic capital markets and the importance of capturing available opportunities for wealth management globally and in the Gulf region.

It will address the importance of maintaining equilibrium between the organisational operations of investments and innovation in the Islamic capital markets.

It will also cover economic expectations against Islamic fund performances.

As a partner in this conference, Tharawat will sponsor this summit and a senior member of firm will talk on investment at the conference.-TradeArabia News Service