The global financial crisis has created a lot of interest around the world in Islamic finance and not only in Muslim countries, said an expert.

The potential from new markets will help Islamic finance to spread a lot wider and grow, according to Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) secretary-general Dr Khaled R Al Fakih.

He was speaking at the opening of the AAOIFI conference which has attracted more than 300 delegates from 25 countries.

"This new interest will open up new markets and increase demand for Islamic finance," he said.

He said that the conference would be looking at a range of new standards across fields including accounting, auditing, ethics, governance and Sharia across the industry.

"AAOIFI is continuing standards development and reviewing the process," he said.

"In order to carry this out we need to engage with banks, regulators and Sharia scholars. Sharia scholars have been instrumental in helping AAOIFI not only in developing new standards but in reviewing those standards.

"They have been instrumental in working with the industry and guiding it to adopt AAOIFI standards," he added.

He said AAOIFI worked closely with other bodies including the International Islamic Financial Market, Islamic Financial Services Board and the International Islamic Liquidity Management Corporation.

"I would like to reiterate we are continuing to work with other bodies involved in developing standards to make sure all our work can provide solid support to the industry," he added.

Dr Al Fakih took over as AAOIFI secretary-general in February replacing Dr Mohamad Nedal Alchaar, who has assumed the position of the Minister of Economy and Trade of Syria. – TradeArabia News Service