In the Islamic funds market there is a need to build a system that can facilitate effective and efficient capital and trading flows, said an expert ahead of the upcoming 'World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference' (WIFFMC) in Bahrain.

The annual conference will be held under the theme 'Broadening the Base of Investors and Issuers: New Strategic Insights on Boosting the International Growth of Islamic Capital Markets and Investments,' at the Gulf Hotel on May 27 and 28 in an event supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.

The summit, this year, will focus discussions on overcoming the challenges facing the Islamic asset management industry and will analyse key initiatives that need to be taken to broaden the international base of Islamic investments, it added.

"For an effective system that can facilitate effective and efficient capital and trading flows, there is need to develop an Islamic financial system which has the required infrastructure that includes Islamic financial institutions ranging from banking, takaful, capital market, fund and wealth management entities," said organiser of the conference David McLean.

That was one of the conclusions of last year's WIFFMC in Bahrain.

And it is an issue that will be debated again in terms of progress at this year's conference which will be held at the Gulf Hotel on May 27 and 28 in an event supported by the Central Bank of Bahrain.

"There is a need to create a conducive legal and Sharia framework and a financial system that has a comprehensive range of Islamic financial products and services," stated McLean.

"With significant infrastructure and social development expenditure in key markets, particularly in Asia and the Middle East, and a challenging global conventional bond market environment, market borrowers are seeking to diversify to other alternate funding sources," he noted.

"Given the continued level of liquidity within the overall Islamic investor base, Islamic instruments will continue to emerge as an increasingly attractive and viable alternative," he added.-TradeArabia News Service