Islamic Financial Services

With a strong Islamic banking sector, a growing Islamic insurance (takaful) industry and an expanding market for Islamic bonds (sukuk), Brunei Darussalam has recently been drawing much attention internationally as a center for Islamic financial services (IFS). Indeed, Brunei Darusslam is now amongst the nine countries worldwide where Islamic finance has reached systemic importance – places where more than 15% of total domestic banking assets belong to the sector. Located in the heart of a region that contains five of the 10 largest Muslim countries by population, Brunei Darussalam is also well placed to capitalize on the fast-growing role Asian Islamic finance is taking in this robust global industry. With some two-thirds of the world’s Muslims living in Asia, many of them in seriously under-banked markets, such as Indonesia, the region continues to hold strong potential for the industry. This chapter contains an interview with Javed Ahmad, Former Managing Director, and Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD).