01 December 2015 - The Philippine Embassy in Ankara joined Representatives Bai Sandra A. Sema of the 1st District of Maguindanao, Sitti Djalia T. Hataman of Anak Pawis Partylist, and Maria Lourdes Acosta-Alba of Bukidnon at the G20 conference on “Leveraging Islamic Finance for SMEs” held last October 23 and 24 at Istanbul Congress Center in Istanbul. An advance team composed of Director Aleem Guiapal of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), Atty. Maisarah Latip of the the Solicitor-General’s Office and Atty. Arifa Ala of the Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas were also part of the Philippine delegation.
Speakers during the conference included Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Yaşar Doğan, Chairman of TUMSIAD (Tüm Sanayici ve Iş Adamları Derneği or All Industrialist's and Businessmen's Association – the co-organizer of the forum), and Gloria Grandolini, Senior Director of The World Bank.
In the various presentations, Islamic finance was presented as superior over other kinds of banking (i.e. Western models) due to its greater transparency, flexibility and the fact that it has a different set of accounting procedures as espoused and promoted by the Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI). It was touted as having a more inclusive development agenda. Islamic financial institutions were not affected by the worldwide economic squeeze of the last three years.
At the sidelines of the conference, the Philippine delegation also met separately with World Bank officials including Zamir Iqbal, Global Islamic Finance Development Center, and Abayomi A. Alawode, Head of Islamic Finance, Michael McMillen, Head of Islamic Finance and Investment at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosie LLP, and Mr. Nihat Gumus of the Global Islamic Finance Development Center. In the meeting, Alawode urged the Philippines to develop the regulatory framework for transition to Islamic finance, and asked the members of the House of Representatives to see how Islamic finance is linked to government development projects. END