KARACHI: Institute of Business Management (IoBM) and BankIslami Pakistan Limited signed a MoU on Wednesday. According to the MoU, BankIslami will serve as a knowledge partner to facilitate the operations of the Center for Islamic Business and Finance at IoBM. BankIslami will develop marketing content, provide scholarships, facilitate academic research and organize guest speaker sessions at IoBM. The signatories were Talib S Karim, President IoBM, and Syed Amir Ali, President and CEO, BankIslami Pakistan.

Talib Karim said that Islamic banking and finance are the future, and we should facilitate human resource development. He advised gauging the Center’s performance regularly.

Talib Karim appreciated BankIslami’s support to IoBM in the fields of research and envisioned the creation of degree programmes to facilitate Islamic banking. “There is a need for Islamic finance professionals in Pakistan,” said Syed Amir Ali. He said that Pakistan’s economy could be structured on Islamic banking principles. He suggested a way forward on how to provide relevant training to academicians and corporate executives in the fields of Islamic banking. Amir called for the continuous monitoring of the action points of the MoU to achieve mutual success.

Representing BankIslami Pakistan were Mufti Javed Ahmad, Resident Shariah Board Member; Kashif Nisar, Head of Product and Shariah Structuring; Muhammad Irfan Ahmed, Head of Shariah Compliance; Muhammad Fahim Siddiqui, Head of National Product Manager, Distribution; and Syed Fahad Bin Tariq, Head of Marketing. Dr Imam Uddin, Head of Accounting & Finance Department, IoBM played an active role in the development of the MoU. —PR