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On 14 August 2006 the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative was launched to promote Malaysia as a major hub for international Islamic finance. The MIFC initiative is undertaken by the collective efforts of Malaysia?s financial and market regulators, together with industry participants from the Islamic banking, takaful and capital market community in Malaysia. The vision is to create a vibrant, innovative and competitive international Islamic financial service industry in Malaysia, supported by high caliber human talents, world class infrastructure and globally recognised legal, regulatory and Shariah practices.
The MIFC initiative aims to position Malaysia as the Islamic finance hub through the following focus areas:
- Sukuk Origination
- Islamic Fund and Wealth Management
- International Islamic Banking
- International Takaful
- Human Capital Development
MIFC encapsulates Malaysia's more than 30 years of Islamic finance expertise and experience into a single initiative; upon which foreign financial institutions can leverage.
Malaysia's Islamic financial industry distinguishes itself as one of the proven platforms for conducting Islamic finance activities in the world. The vibrancy and dynamism of the Malaysia?s Islamic financial system is reflected by its continuous product innovation, a large and diverse pool of Islamic finance talent, diversity of financial institutions from across the world, a wide range of innovative Islamic financial products, a comprehensive Islamic financial infrastructure as well as adoption of global regulatory, legal and Shariah best practices.
Malaysia has also the distinction of being the world's first country to have a full-fledged Islamic financial system operating in parallel to the conventional banking system. It has placed strong emphasis on human capital development in Islamic finance to ensure the availability of Islamic finance talents.
Under the MIFC initiative, financial institutions are welcomed to use Malaysia as a platform for the Islamic finance activities, leveraging on the comprehensive system and conducive environment for Islamic finance business available in Malaysia. Various incentives are available to financial institutions participating in MIFC including new licences for conducting foreign currency businesses, attractive tax incentives and facilitative immigration policies. Thus financial institutions may benefit from cost savings from a reduced cost of doing business, a shorter learning curve, shorter time to market, access to new markets and surplus funds and the advantage of having diversified into a new asset class. |
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