Bahrain has been named the GCC's leading Islamic finance market and second out of 92 countries worldwide, for the second year in a row.

This is according to the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector-Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Development Indicator (IFDI), said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

As well as being highly-ranked in terms of the kingdom's commitment to research and training and local awareness of the industry, Bahrain was also ranked as having the best governance in Islamic finance in the world.

The report praises the well-established regulatory framework covering all sectors, and high levels of disclosure.

The IFDI report, which was released yesterday at a panel session at the Global Islamic Finance Forum (GIFF 2014) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the only numerical measure representing the overall health and development of the Islamic finance industry worldwide.

The IFDI is a measure of five key components that combine to depict the bigger picture of the state of Islamic finance in 92 countries - quantitative development, governance, corporate social responsibility, knowledge and awareness.

"For more than two decades, we have contributed to the introduction of Sharia-compliant products," said Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) Governor Rasheed Al Maraj.

"In 2001, the Central Bank's predecessor, the Bahrain Monetary Agency, played a leading role in the development of regulatory regimes for the workings of Islamic financial institutions.

"Bahrain's central bank was also the first in the world to develop and issue sukuk and the kingdom continues to play a leading role in the introduction of these products through issuances.

"The ranking Bahrain has received is testament to the role we play in the Islamic finance industry," he added.

Transportation Minister and EDB acting chief executive Kamal Ahmed said Islamic finance has an important role to play within the wider financial sector in Bahrain and the GCC and the growth the sector has seen is testament to that.

"We are committed to helping the industry grow in Bahrain, to working towards addressing ways of boosting international growth and also to working with countries across the world as they look to establish Islamic finance industries in their own markets," he said.

CBB executive director of banking supervision Khalid Hamad said the Islamic finance sector continues to expand rapidly, both regionally and internationally.

"We will continue studying ways in which we can help to develop the industry - both here in Bahrain, by ensuring regulation continues to evolve and taking steps to strengthen the kingdom's Islamic finance institutions and internationally, by working with countries that wish to introduce Islamic banking," he said.

"For example, in April this year we agreed on a joint framework with the UK to enhance collaboration on Islamic finance at the UK-Bahrain Islamic Finance Summit in London," Hamad said.

Bahrain is home to the largest concentration of Islamic financial institutions in the world, including 32 Islamic banks and takaful and retakaful firms.

The kingdom is also host to a number of organisations dedicated to advancing Islamic finance policy and regulation, such as the Accounting and Auditing Organisation for Islamic Financial Institutions, the International Islamic Financial Market, the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions, the Islamic International Rating Agency, the Thomson Reuters Global Islamic Finance Hub and Deloitte's Islamic Finance Knowledge Centre, making the kingdom a knowledge hub for the industry. - TradeArabia News Service