![[Red national Ottoman flag]](tr.gif){kind=small}
The Bank of the Islamic Ottoman Empire
Another Global Economic Standard: the Islamic Dinar
Issues in Islamic Currencies
Islamic Gold Dinar Here & Growing
Opec and China forge closer ties
BBC - Dec 22/05 - Opec officials have arrived in Beijing for the first formal talks between the oil producing cartel and
China.
Chinese leaders are keen to secure supplies of oil to fuel the country's rapidly expanding economy.
Opec, meanwhile, wants to develop closer ties with the world's second-largest oil consumer.
With world oil supplies currently stretched, Opec says it wants to gain a better understanding of China's appetite for oil.
Energy needs
Oil producing nations are facing an investment bill for billions of dollars to ramp-up production at oilfields in a bid to meet soaring demand.
Full Story Here
Asian Central Banks Target Islamic Bonds
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) - Mar 16/05 - Some Gulf Arab and Asian governments have begun diversifying reserves into Islamic financial assets, but a shortage of Islamic sovereign bonds will slow the process, a senior banker said on Sunday.
Iqbal Khan, Chief Executive of HSBC Amanah Finance, the Islamic banking unit of HSBC Holdings Ltd, said the shift was part of a wider trend among Asian governments to diversify their reserves away from U.S. dollar-based assets.
"Central banks in Muslim countries are investing into those (Islamic) instruments that are made available to them," he said on the sidelines of an Islamic finance conference in Dubai.
"As the Islamic finance industry expands and brings out institutional products, more and more reserves of Islamic countries will be invested Islamically," he told Reuters.
Khan said few governments have so far issued Islamic bonds, known as sukuks, restricting the ability of central banks in Muslim countries to hold them in reserve portfolios.
But he said the supply of sukuks is growing, albeit from a small base, and that he saw "big issuers who would want to tap this market."
Islamic bonds comply with sharia law that forbids interest payments. Instead, investors receive regular payments based on profits from approved investments.
Sukuks are normally priced in the same way as conventional bonds, with a spread based on an established interest rate benchmark such as London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR).
Malaysia and Bahrain were among the first governments to issue sovereign sukuks.
But in 2004, the German state of Saxony-Anhalt became the first non-Muslim government to tap the Islamic fixed income market. It raised 100 million euros ($134.3 million) through a five-year sukuk.
Khan said that as the legal structure for issuing sukuks becomes routine, rather than exceptional, more Muslim and non-Muslim governments will seek to tap the market.
U.S. Economic Crisis & Reality: The center of the doughnut
Asia Times - Jan 6/05 - All Ponzi schemes build a financial pyramid. Many who pay into them also live in a financial world themselves, but others need to derive their in-payment through earnings from production in the real world. In today's world of financial transactions that every day are a hundredfold more than all payments for real goods and services put together, the financial ones put the real ones into the shadow behind their brilliance.
Moreover, to oversimplify a very complex matter into more intelligible layperson's language, options, derivatives, swaps and other recent financial instruments have been ever much further compounding already compounded interest on the real properties in which their stake and debts are based, which has contributed to the spectacular growth of this financial world. Nonetheless, the financial pyramid that we see in all its splendor and brilliance, especially in its center at Uncle Sam's home, still sits on top of a real-world producer-merchant-consumer base, even if the financial one also provides credit for these real-world transactions.
Now, what if we look at the world as a doughnut, analogous to so many cities in the US rust belt. The center is derelict and hollowed out as production and consumption have moved to the surrounding suburbs (in automobile capital Detroit, the windows of the principal department store Hudson's have been boarded up for years, even as the city has built an expensive "Renaissance Center" to re-gentrify the center, a process that has "succeeded" in some other cities). General Motors' derelict Flint, Michigan, gave us Michael Moore, who featured it in Roger and Me (a reference to GM chief executive officer Roger Smith). We might look at the entire world in doughnut terms, with the whole of Uncle Sam in the empty hole in the middle that produces almost nothing it can sell abroad. The main exceptions are agricultural goods and military hardware that are heavily subsidized by the US government from its taxpayers and its dollar-printing press, and even so Uncle Sam runs a US$600-billion-plus budget deficit.
Should the dollar crash ...
The big difference in this US doughnut is that both the budget deficit and the $600-billion-plus trade deficit are financed by foreigners, as we have seen. Uncle Sam would exclude most of them as persons, but gladly receives the real goods they produce. As world consumer of last resort, as already suggested, Uncle Sam performs this important function in the present global political economic division of labor: everybody else produces and needs to export, and Uncle Sam consumes and needs to import. The crash of the dollar would (will?) crumble this entire world-embracing and -organizing political economic doughnut and throw hundreds of millions of people, not to mention zillions of dollars and their owners, into turmoil, with unforeseen and perhaps unforeseeable consequences.
IRAQ TO RECEIVE FIRST IMF LOAN.
Oct 1/04 - Rferl - The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a $436.7 million
loan for Iraq, AP reported on 29 September. The funds were allotted by the IMF
under its ''emergency post-conflict assistance" program that is designed to
aid countries following war. U.S. officials hope the aid foreshadows forgiveness
by the World Bank for the approximately $120 billion debt owed by Iraq. The aim
of the loan is to stabilize the economy and lay the groundwork for future
reforms such as the restructuring of state-owned enterprises and improving the
transparency of the oil sector. IMF Deputy Managing Director Takatoshi Kato
called the assistance ''a crucial step toward putting Iraq back on the path to
economic stability and strong, sustainable growth." Another official
emphasized the detrimental effects of the insurgency. "The first step in
Iraq is to deal with the security situation," Raghuram Rajan, the IMF's
chief economist, said at a news conference announcing the loans. (Ethan Arnheim)
Copyright (c) 2004/05.
RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
BAGHDAD STOCK EXCHANGE NEARS PREWAR LEVELS.
Oct 1/04 - Rferl - Trade on the Baghdad
Stock Exchange is approaching the daily volume that typically occurred under
Saddam Hussein's regime, Al-Zaman reported on 23 September. Nearly 100 companies
are listed on the exchange, approximately the same number that traded before the
U.S.-led invasion. Officials reported high volume over the past week due to the
initial public offering of Al-Hukma Pharmaceuticals, which traded more than 112
million shares. More than 4 billion dinars ($2.8 million) of stock changed hands
during the first session last week, with high volume in the agricultural sector.
The Baghdad Stock Exchange has been operating for 10 years and is open two days
a week. (Ethan Arnheim)
Copyright (c) 2004/05.
RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
By Valentinas Mite
Oct 15/03 - Rferl - Iraq today introduced its new currency. For the next three months, 240 banks throughout the country will be swapping old Saddam Hussein-era dinars for the new notes, and the government will begin issuing salaries in the new dinars as of November. RFE/RL reports that security is tight as Iraqis head to the bank to exchange their old dinars.
Baghdad, 15 October 2003 (RFE/RL) -- In Baghdad, rumors were swirling that fighters loyal to ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein would use the first day of the currency swap to stage attacks on banks.
Throughout the country some 40,000 police officers, assisted by U.S. troops, are standing guard as Iraqis go to the bank to exchange their old Saddam-era bills for new dinars. All old bills have to be swapped by 15 January.
At the Rafadin Bank in the residential Al-Jamiya district in central Baghdad, three U.S. tanks are positioned outside concrete blocks and barbed wire surrounding the building.
Some 30 police and armed security officers are on hand. Everyone entering the building is thoroughly searched. A dozen people are lining up at the entrance.
The bank's manager, Hussein al-Mussawi, told RFE/RL that he fears the situation may become dangerous. With explosions and other attacks growing more frequent in the Iraqi capital, he said banks issuing the new banknotes are likely targets for terrorist attacks. "We are supposed to have tight security measures, especially in a residential area," he said. Al-Mussawi said some 300 Iraqis came to the bank to swap their old notes over the course of just two hours.
The Iraqis at the Rafadin Bank seem happy with the new banknotes, which are smaller and printed in Britain on better-quality paper than the old Hussein-era notes.
They also come in six denominations (50, 250, 1,000, 5,000, 10,000 and 25,000) instead of the 250-dinar denomination that dominated previous transactions. And instead of Hussein's image, the new bills bear pictures representing Iraq's former glory and present hopes: the ancient Babylonian ruler Hammurabi, the Al-Mustansarya religious school -- considered one of the oldest schools in the Arab world -- and a modern industrial scene.
They are exchanged one to one with the Saddam dinar, which circulates in most of the country, and at a rate of 150 new dinars to the so-called "Swiss dinar," which was introduced before the Gulf War and which is still used in the northern Kurdish areas. They are also convertible into U.S. currency, at a rate of about 2,000 per $1.
Alla Abdul Karim, a businessman swapping his bills, says the new notes are difficult to forge -- something else that sets them apart from the bills introduced by Hussein after the Gulf War in 1991. He also says the introduction of the new currency "will improve the economic situation in the near future."
Wassen, a woman in her 30s, echoed the feelings expressed by many Iraqis that the new banknotes are a signal of better times ahead. "[The new currency] will unite Iraq from the north to the south," she said.
Karima, a lawyer, says the new banknotes are the first convincing sign since the U.S.-led war began that things are beginning to change. She says Iraqis need a dose of good news. "The whole nation needs the currency change, especially because the picture [of Hussein] will disappear, because the people psychologically are tired [of it] and they need the change of the currency," she said.
A street vendor, Muhammad, accepts the new banknotes with no hesitation. Holding the new dinars in his hand for the first time, he smiles and says he likes the switch: "Yes, we like it. It's good, and it's much better than the one we had during the old regime. It's good paper and it's much better than before. The old [banknotes] were really bad."
Thafer Maki is a cashier in a coffeehouse in the Mansur district of Baghdad. Holding a new dinar, he invites the waiters to take a look at the money. Everyone agrees the banknotes are well made and nicer than the "old Saddams."
Maki says the new notes have a political value as well as an economic one. "The most important thing is that we don't see [Saddam's] face on the notes."
The new banknotes will make a practical change in the life of many Iraqis, who had grown accustomed to carrying large bundles of 250-dinar notes to make even the smallest purchases.
The U.S. administration in Iraq and the country's own provisional government hope the new notes will send a clear and unmistakable message that the era of Saddam Hussein is over. It seems the message is coming through.
The Saddam-free notes will be the 14th time that the Iraqi currency has been reissued since the first Iraqi banknotes went into circulation in April 1932 bearing the portrait of King Faisal.
Copyright (c) 2004/05. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
By Kathleen Knox
Oct 15/03 - Rferl - Prague, 13 October 2003 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has hailed the launch of Iraq's new currency as an important milestone for the Iraqi economy.
In his weekly radio address on 11 October, Bush said the new currency will help unify Iraq, which had previously used two different versions of the dinar in different areas.
"For more than a decade, different areas of Iraq have used two different versions of the dinar, and many of those notes were counterfeit, diminishing the value of those that were genuine. The new dinar will be used throughout Iraq, thereby unifying the economy and the country. The new currency will have special features that will make it difficult to counterfeit," Bush said.
Bush also hailed the new currency as a sign of economic promise. "Following World War II, it took three years to institute a new currency in West Germany," he said. "In Iraq, it has taken only six months. And the new currency symbolizes Iraq's reviving economy."
Iraqi officials began burning the old money in August, after coalition leaders announced they would change the roughly 4 trillion dinars in circulation.
The new bills no longer bear the image of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and will begin circulating on 15 October. It is hoped the change will help restore monetary stability in a country long used to having Hussein's regime fuel rampant inflation by printing banknotes at will.
In Baghdad today, Iraq's Central Bank unveiled the new notes for the first time and burned thousands of old dinars in huge underground furnaces.
The central bank governor's deputy, Ahmad Salman Muhammad, said the bank has already absorbed a "good portion" of old banknotes still in circulation and will carry on burning old notes in the coming weeks. "All the money [which is] on the market now, we are going to burn all the money we have issued before," he said.
The new notes are printed in England and come in six denominations instead of the single 250-dinar denomination used currently.
Instead of Hussein, the new bills bear pictures of ancient Babylonian ruler Hammurabi and a 10th-century Iraqi mathematician, Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham.
They will be exchanged one-for-one with the Saddam dinar, which circulates in most of the country, and at a rate of 150 new dinars to the so-called "Swiss dinar," which is used in the northern Kurdish areas. They are also convertible into dollars, at a rate of around 2,000 to the dollar.
The changeover is to last three months, which Central Bank Deputy Governor Muhammad said is enough time for people to change their cash. "I think the time, three months, is enough and even if it is not enough we can do it [for] like two or three other months," he said.
It is hoped the security features will make the new notes much harder to counterfeit -- a major problem with the currency up to now. Forgeries circulated easily since Iraq had no record of how much currency it had printed in the first place.
Copyright (c) 2004/05. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
Bank Indonesia To Issue Regulation On Shariah Banks
JAKARTA, Dec 29/04 - Asia Pulse - Bank Indonesia said it will issue a set of regulations on shariah banks including the minimum capital adequacy ratio (CAR) that Islamic banks must have in 2005.
The regulation will determine the standards for shariah banks , that operate under Islamic rules, to be categorized as healthy, deputy governor of the central bank Maulana Ibrahim said..
Shariah banks receive and offer no interest and are prohibited to finance projects related to
...
The global march of Islamic banking
Aug 20/04 - (ATimes) -Next month Birmingham, the home of one of the United Kingdom's largest Muslim communities, will become the headquarters of the Islamic Bank of Britain; in London, there is already an Islamic stock brokerage. The spread of Islamic banking and finance throughout the world may not provide the exciting headlines that result from extremist Islamist terrorism, but it is arguably of farther-reaching importance - and enjoys the support of the Koran itself.
Islamic banking operations now exist in about 100 countries, with an estimated US$300 billion in assets, and are growing at 10-15% a year, according to Gohar Bilal, a former visiting scholar at the Islamic Legal Studies program of Harvard Law School.
Like any bank that complies with Islamic law, the new bank in Birmingham will not pay or charge interest on its transactions. Naturally, it will also appeal for its business primarily to European Muslims, who number nearly 2 million in Britain alone.
This is not to say that non-Muslim banks are ignoring this market. For example, Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) in England already offers pension and home-loan schemes and a stockbroking service that comply with Islamic law (Sharia).
Still, the introduction of Islamic banking in Europe is tentative at the moment, meaning that it will at first focus on high-net-worth customers so as to recoup investments as soon as possible. In the long run, however, given the growth of the Muslim community in Europe, and the fact that non-Muslims will not be excluded from these services, Islamic banking and finance could turn out to be a useful bridge across societal gaps.
The growth of Islamic banking might seem remarkable in the context of the current image of Islam as an atavistic religion of terror and violence, a condition aggravated by the attacks of September 11, 2001, when the world watched in horror the acts perpetrated by the extremists. Indeed, Muslims themselves have for decades ignored the advances in Islamic banking, distracted by ideologues bent on creating Sharia-compliant states.
Yet Islamic banking is no less important than Islamic law at the state level, as it was mentioned in the Koran in four different revelations.
16 April 2004
The news that the bankers Rothschild are to withdraw from the gold market, in which they have been a major player for two centuries, has been hailed as the end of an era.
In one sense, of course, it is. This was the company that smuggled gold coins across the English Channel to finance the Duke of Wellington's advance through France to his final triumph at Waterloo over Napoleon (who, it turned out, had also borrowed money from the Rothschilds).
Gold Dinar Can Play Big Role in Global Trade
August 20, 2002
A two-day conference on "Stable and Just Global Monetary Systems" organised by the International Islamic University opened in Kuala Lumpur. The keynote speaker was the economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Tan Sri Mohamed Yakcop, who spoke on "Trade and the Gold Dinar - the next component in the International Islamic Financial System". Below is an extract from his speech outlining how the gold dinar could play a role in international trade
What is the role of the gold dinar?
The
proposed gold dinar will not replace the domestic currencies. The domestic
currencies (e.g. ringgit) will continue to be used for domestic transactions
in the respective countries. The gold dinar will be used only for external
trade among the participating countries.
Initially, the gold dinar will not exist in physical form. It will merely be defined in terms of gold. For example, if one gold dinar is equivalent to one ounce of gold, and the price of one ounce of gold is today at US$290, then the value of one gold dinar will be US$290 or equivalent in other currencies, on the basis of the prevailing exchange rates.
The actual settlement for trade can be by way of the transfer of equivalent amount of gold. It will not be a physical transfer of gold from one country to another, but a transfer of beneficial ownership in the gold custodian's account. Where it is not possible to transfer the gold, payment can be made by way of an equivalent amount in other acceptable currencies, but this should be the exception rather than the rule.
How will the gold dinar be used?
The
gold dinar will be used, initially, for settlement of trade on the basis of
bilateral payment arrangements (BPAs). Eventually the BPAs will be converted
into a multilateral payments arrangement (MPA) with the participation of as
many countries as possible. The following is an illustration of how these
arrangements work:
Bilateral Payment Arrangement (BPA)
 |
Two countries, say
Malaysia and Saudi Arabia, sign a bilateral payments arrangement, under
which trade balances will be settled every 3 months.
|
The trade will be
denominated in gold dinar.
|
The value of one
gold dinar is defined, say, as one ounce of gold.
|
The Malaysian
exporters will be paid in ringgit by Bank Negara on the due date of
exports, based at the ringgit/gold dinar exchange rate prevailing at the
time of the export. Similarly, the importers will pay Bank Negara the
ringgit equivalent of their imports.
|
The Saudi central
bank will do the same for its exports and imports.
|
Say, at the end of
the three-month cycle on March 31, the total exports from Malaysia to
Saudi Arabia is 2 million gold dinar and the total exports of Saudi Arabia
to Malaysia is 1.8 million gold dinar.
|
Therefore, for that
particular three-month cycle ending on March 31, the Saudi central bank
will pay Bank Negara 0.2 million gold dinar. The actual payment can be by
way of the Saudi central bank transferring 0.2 million ounces of gold in
its custodian's account, in the Bank of England in London, to Bank
Negara's account with the same custodian.
|
The important point to note here is that, under this mechanism, a relatively small amount of 0.2 million gold dinar is able to support a total trade value of 3.8 million gold dinar. In other words, we optimise on the use of foreign exchange. Even countries that do not have a large amount of foreign exchange reserves can participate significantly in international trade under this mechanism.
Multilateral Payment Arrangement (VIPA)
|
The MPA functions in
a similar fashion as the BPA, but it involves many countries and is,
therefore, more efficient than BPAs.
|
To illustrate the
efficiency of the MPA, let's assume that there are 3 countries involved,
namely Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
|
Let us assume that
the volume of trade between Malaysia and Saudi Arabia was the same as in
the example with BPA, and we add the additional trade of those two
countries with Egypt.
|
In the earlier
example, a total of 10.7 million gold dinar of trade takes place among the
3 countries, with a net payment of only 0.1 million gold dinar.
|
In other words, the
only payment required is for Egypt to pay Saudi 0.1 million gold dinar,
but the total value of trade among the three countries is substantial, at
10.7 million gold dinar.
|
It is also possible
to refine the mechanism further, whereby the credit or debit outstanding
at the end of each quarter can be forwarded to the subsequent quarters and
final settlement is made only at the end of the year.
|
The advantage of this refinement is that a net import position for a country during a particular quarter may be offset by a net export position in the subsequent quarter so that, for the year as a whole, the payment flows are further minimised.
To summarise, we have spent a good part of the last two decades in establishing Islamic financial systems in our respective countries. I believe the time is now right to complete or complement the domestic systems with an international system - a system that will allow each Muslim country to reach out to one another and strengthen the level of trade - a system that will also allow the ummah to use its collective surpluses to fund each other, and help each other grow.
Islam places great emphasis on the unity of the ummah. Given this opportunity to strengthen our relationships, using the gold dinar, I believe it is incumbent on us as a fardhu kifayah to collectively implement this next component of the International Islamic Financial System.
There is a famous Chinese saying that the journey of a thousand miles begins with a first single step. I do not want to exaggerate, but if we can succeed in increasing substantially the volume of trade among the Islamic countries, the rest will follow.
The
promotion of direct trade between Islamic countries, preferably through the
mechanism of the gold dinar, could be the initial first step in the proverbial
journey of a thousand miles.
http://www.islamic-banking.com/news/malaysia/gold_dinar_0802.php
Can Malaysia succeed in convincing the Islamic countries to revive their 'gold
dinar' as a common currency, as this is 'necessary' to get rid of the influence
of the west in trade and business dealings, and other economic issues.
Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a big supporter on the subject of
reviving 'gold dinar', believes that this would help in containing the dominance
of the World Bank and the IMF in economic and financial affairs of the Muslim
world.
In a week-long visit of the representatives from the Middle East, India and
Pakistan, to Malaysia early this month revealed that while private sector
experts were pleading for the Islamic banking and finance, the government of
Prime Minister Mahathir too, was equally supportive of the idea, and that was
the reason it was extending all necessary official patronage and financial
support in this behalf.
"Malaysia does not accept the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank and if
other Muslim states follow the same, we can have our own strong Islamic trading,
finance and banking system", Mahatir told the visiting journalists in his
office at Putrajaya - the site of the new administrative centre for the federal
government in Kaula Lumpur.
"We do not care about the dictates of the IMF as we are an independent and
sovereign nation", he said proudly, adding that the Muslim world possessed
plenty of wealth which was not being invested in productive trade and economic
activities. "I was pleading for 'gold dinar' among the Muslim states to
eliminate the bias of dollar". The country was proposing gold dinar to
strengthen, specially the weak economies of the Islamic countries on the pattern
of euro, Mahathir emphasised, while arguing that if Europe can take care of its
countries why can't we follow the same pattern.
Gold dinar had been the currency of Muslim world until the collapse of the
Ottoman empire in 1924. Being the single currency at that time, dinar helped in
uniting the Muslims, trade, and as a result the trade flourished. Thus, a vast
Muslim rule was established with the dominance on knowledge, economy and global
power resting with the Muslims.
Full Story Here
Islamic Gold Dinar Will Minimize Dependency on U.S. Dollar
CAIRO, January 8 (IslamOnline) – Malaysia will start using the Islamic gold dinar starting mid 2003 in its foreign trade section with some countries replacing the U.S. dollar in a first step move toward unifying the currency used in commercial dealings between Islamic countries.
The success of this idea, according to several western newspapers, may lead to minimizing the U.S. dollar hegemony as an intermediate tool in commercial dealings in the world.
The idea was adopted by Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad who conducted bilateral talks during the year 2002 with several Islamic countries, including Bahrain, Libya, Morocco and Iran, to convince them of using the Islamic dinar as a way of payment in their commercial dealings with Malaysia.
Gold dinar and the currency crisis
Although gold might not solve the problem, it is less unstable than the US dollar and has an intrinsic value that paper money does not have. It is believed that with gold, speculation and manipulation could be avoided and thus the international trade would be safe from being undermined. The gold diner was used by the Muslim world as far back as the second caliphate (AD 632), until the fall of the Ottoman empire in 1924. According to the Islamic law, one diner is equivalent to 4.22 grams (0.135 ounce) of pure gold and the value is based on demand for gold.
Islamic Development Bank holds meeting on means for preparing the Muslim nation
Regional, Economics, 11/17/1998
The council of executive directors at the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) resumed on Monday its 181st session in Benin - Saudi Arabia under the chairmanship of IDB's president Ahmed Mohammed Ali, reported the Saudi Press Agency SPA.
The agenda includes study of recommendations submitted by the IDB's president on means for preparing the Muslim nation for the 21st century and the role expected to be played by the IDB in enhancing commercial exchanges among its member states.
Meanwhile, the council reviewed Togo's membership application and recommended to the council of IDB's governors to accept the African country as the 53rd member of the IDB.
The council also reviewed a report on cooperation between the IDB and the other Islamic banks as well as the arrangements for convening the 23rd annual meeting for the IDB's governors, duo to be held at the level of ministers of finance, planning and economy on Tuesday in Benin.
Islamic Development Bank approves $1.4 billion in grants to Islamic countries
Regional, Economics, 8/19/1998
The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) will grant this year $1.4 billion in financial assistance destined to finance transactions among Islamic countries, the bank's chief said.
He said the grants will serve to bolster the private sector in the Islamic world.
The IDB chief added that the Islamic Development Bank approved the grants in conformity with the resolutions adopted by the latest Islamic summit, which called for fostering trade among Islamic countries.
The Documentation of
Islamic Banking Products
Conference & Workshop
The Conference on The Documentation of Islamic Financial Products, organised by The Institute of Islamic Banking and Insurance (IIBI), London, in conjunction with The Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Jeddah, took place on the 17th & 18th of July 2002 in London. The event, attended by over 100 delegates from all over the world and representing conventional, as well as Islamic, financial institutions, proved to be a great success
Currency bickering risks recovery blackouts
CHINA Working to Cooperate with Islamic Nations
The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is formed of 57 Muslim countries. Membership in the OIC would allow China to build another set of cultural and diplomatic relations in addition to what it already enjoys at the United Nations. Furthermore, China need not be afraid that its policy on Islam would be attacked in the OIC, as it has generally had a very good record in this regard,
Indonesia & China
US edged out as China woos
Indonesia
CHINA: Replacing USA in Asian export
market
Full Story Here
China-US:will they have a head-on collision and involve the world economy in the mother of all train-wrecks?
South East Asia the focus of potential Sino-US rivalry
the Chinese economic dynamo may soon become, or already is, a rival to America's economic position in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia.
Note: All of these issues will have great impact on the U.S. The Party is
almost over. It's time to get serious about strengthening our faith, and
learning how to find encouragement in the same way that the Believers of old
found strength. They remain a strong role model
for us, examples of people who were not overwhelmed - because they had found a
faith with very deep and authentic roots.
Drug trade booms on China-Myanmar(Burma) border
Oil & Politics:
Pipelineistan, Part 1: The rules of the game
Pipelineistan,
Part 2: The games nations play
In the Words of the Imam:
Lessons from an Islamic Sunni pulpit