Building on the success of the past three symposiums, World Bank, Islamic Research and Training Institute and International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) is holding a collaborative 4th Annual Symposium on Islamic Finance with a theme Islamic Finance, Inclusion and Poverty Alleviation. The symposium will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 11 – 12 December 2018. The aim of this year symposium is to continue the conversation on Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on no poverty (SDG1) and zero hunger (SDG2).

Our aim is to bring together leading members of the academic, policymakers, private sector practitioners and development communities to discuss recent and new developments and exchange their cutting-edge ideas on policies to eradicate poverty, improve living standards, well-being of all people and promote inclusive societies. This year symposium will entail keynote and presentations of prominent speakers from several multilateral organizations such as World Bank, Islamic Development Bank, Asian Development Bank.

The symposium will allow the participants to gain deeper understanding on the implementation of initiatives related to poverty alleviation and zero hunger. The focus of the symposium will be in line with targets and goals outline in SDG1 and SDG2. Inter alia, presentations and discussions on developing people’s capacities and skills and socio-economic framework, achieving food security and promoting sustainable agriculture.

The event will provide an excellent platform to discuss and clarify major issues that need to be bridged between theory and practice, business unit and regulators and business models and potential investors. In addition, it will also facilitate the collection and dissemination of knowledge through the publication of report on Islamic Finance, Financial Inclusion and Poverty Alleviation. This is to ensure the discussions are not merely academic but translated to high impact initiatives through policies formulation and effective implementation of the relevant projects.