T

he First Islamic Economics and Finance Research Forum, organized recently within the framework of the Sharia Economic Week in Pekanbaru, Riau, produced fresh ideas and recommendations for the development of Indonesia’s Islamic banking industry, a senior official at the central bank said.

Edy Setiadi, executive director of Bank Indonesia’s Department of Islamic Banking, said that the forum also mapped out and educated human resources with the required expertise and skills in Islamic finance and banking, who have the potential to become research partners of the Department of Islamic Banking in central bank, Islamic banks and other sharia-based financial institutions.

The research forum, New Era of the Indonesian Islamic Economics & Finance: Integration of Islamic Financial Institutions and Islamic Financial Markets, was held on Nov. 20-21, at Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University.

In addition to exploring the issue of sharia economic at Riau Islamic University on Nov. 19, there was an open lecture on Islamic Banking and Finance at Riau University on Nov. 22 and an Islamic Finance Workshop at the same venue on Nov. 23.

The activities were organized by Bank Indonesia’s Pekanbaru Representative Office in collaboration with Bank Indonesia’s Department of Islamic Banking, the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI) and several universities in Pekanbaru.

Setiadi said activities at the Sharia Economic Week offered a platform for communication and knowledge sharing among academicians and representatives of research institutions in participating in the development of the national Islamic banking industry.

The research forum, opened by Bank Indonesia Deputy Governor Halim Alamsyah, presented Prof. Abbas Mirakhor, a distinguished lecturer at the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) of Malaysia, to discuss Islamic Economics and Finance Policy Framework for Financial Sector Authority.

Mirakhor, the first holder of the INCEIF’s chair in Islamic finance, is a graduate of Kansas State University, where he received his bachelor, master and PhD degrees in economics. After teaching in various universities from 1968 to 1984, he joined the International Monetary Fund (IMF), where he remained until retirement in 2008, serving as staff member, an executive director and the dean of the board of that institution.

Dr. M. Tahir Mansoori from the International Islamic University of Islamabad also addressed the forum as a speaker to discuss the positions of religious law in the operations of Islamic Finance.

Setiadi says that the forum also became a parameter to measure knowledge and expertise of academicians and researchers in conducting research on Islamic banking.

The second day of the forum saw the presentation of research papers by Bank Indonesia on the New Islamic Monetary Operations in the Era of OJK, the Capital Market and Financial Institution Supervisory Agency’s (Bapepam-LK) paper Engaging All Islamic Financial Sectors in OJK, the Finance Ministry’s paper Increasing the Government Funds in the Islamic Financial Institutions, a research paper by the Sultan Syarif Kasim State Islamic University regarding Applying Islamic Law in the Indonesian Legal System as well as a paper by the IAEI on the Development of Islamic Economic Thought on Islamic Financial Institutions.

The forum also presented parallel workshops with the presentation of 28 research papers on Islamic economics, Islamic capital market and Islamic monetary and fiscal policy and on Islamic Law. Of the 209 research papers, collected during the August-October period, six were commended on the second day of the event. The six best papers were prepared by Jadi Suriadi; Achmad Firdaus; Muhammad Idris; Irham Fachreza Anas; Aam S. Rusydiana and Abrista Devi; and Syarifah Hudayah, Rizky Yudaruddin and Rian Hilmawan.

Setiadi said that the research forum reflects Bank Indonesia’s consistency in boosting the research culture of Islamic finance and banking.

“Bank Indonesia is committed to continuing the activities of the Islamic Banking Research Forum by enhancing the quality of output as well as its effectiveness,” he says.

He added that the quality of the Islamic Banking Research Forum is expected to increase every year, both in terms of the papers and technical aspects.

The research forum is expected to continue to explore the knowledge and expertise of academicians and researchers, whose output will benefit regulators, as well as those involved within Islamic banking and the academicians themselves, he said.