The competitive environment of the financial sector in Bahrain was highlighted at a key event in Europe last week.

Economic Development Board chief economist Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, who delivered a keynote address at the annual Frankfurt Euro Finance Week 2014, said due to its role for half a century as a diversified regional financial centre, Bahrain has seen a growing interest in the Mena region - not least with regard to Islamic finance, one of the region's biggest growth drivers, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

For the second year in a row, Bahrain has been named the GCC's leading Islamic finance market and second out of 92 countries worldwide, according to the ICD-Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Development Indicator, he said.

Dr Kotilaine said Islamic finance has an important role to play within the wider financial sector in Bahrain and the GCC, and the growth that the sector has seen is testament to that.

“We are committed to furthering the growth of this industry in Bahrain, and to working with countries across the world as they look to establish Islamic finance industries in their own markets,” he added.

Bahrain is home to 23 Islamic banks, and is 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.

In a panel discussion, Dr Kotilaine also discussed opportunities and challenges for businesses in the wider Mena region. - TradeArabia News Service