Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh

Mr Iqbal Khan, Our Honoured Speaker for today’s Lecture

Mr Krishna Chetti, CEO of BNP Paribas Malaysia Bhd

Distinguished Guests, Members of the Media

Ladies & Gentlemen.

Mr Daud Vicary Abdullah.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the BNP Paribas-INCEIF Centre for Islamic Wealth Management inaugural public lecture.  We are honoured to have with us, Mr Iqbal Ahmad Khan, CEO of Fajr Capital and the 2012 Royal Award for Islamic Finance Recipient, to deliver the public lecture.

Mr Iqbal will be speaking on `The Future of Islamic Wealth Management in Malaysia and the OIC World: Issues and Challenges’.

Today’s public lecture is one of many activities planned and executed by the Centre since its launch last year.  The main objective of the Centre is to support the growth of the Islamic wealth management industry by furthering education, applied research, industry innovation and policy development. To facilitate the objectives, the Centre will conduct workshops, conferences and public lectures focusing on Islamic wealth management that includes aspects of wealth generation, accumulation, protection, purification and distribution.

I am also pleased to share with you that to date, two scholarships to pursue the PhD in Islamic Finance have been awarded by the centre to two deserving INCEIF students. In addition to that, the centre is also evaluating a number of industry-based research proposals with the aim of subsequently, sponsoring the research, for the benefit of the industry.

In September, there will be another public lecture planned and in December, there will be a one-day colloquium.

INCEIF is very privileged to spearhead this initiative with BNP Paribas Malaysia, as through the Centre, we look forward to improving industry knowledge and raising industry standards where Islamic wealth management is concerned.

INCEIF would like to record its sincere thanks and appreciation to BNP Paribas Malaysia for partnering with us on this effort.

It is encouraging to have an industry player, and indeed one with such prestigious credentials and interest in developing Islamic finance, as our partner. It truly reflects the support and commitment of BNP Paribas in developing the Islamic finance industry.

INCEIF’s mission to elevate and advance knowledge in Islamic finance by developing thought leadership and future leaders for the global industry certainly gathers momentum when we get industry players involved. This collaboration will further strengthen INCEIF’s unique position as a university by the industry for the industry.

Lastly, on behalf of INCEIF, I would like to thank Mr Iqbal Ahmad Khan for accepting the task of being the first speaker for the BNP Paribas-INCEIF Centre for Islamic Wealth Management public lecture series. Our thanks also go to everyone here for making time to grace this Lecture with your presence.

With everyone’s support, INCEIF looks to a future where we set the global standards in Islamic finance education, training and research. INCEIF looks forward to continuing support and guidance from the industry as we remain on course to become the knowledge leader in Islamic finance.

Assalamualaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh