Afdhal Aliasar is an Islamic economy and finance practitioner who is also an Islamic philanthropist. He is now a director of the Halal industry in the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance, Republic of Indonesia.

After acquiring his degree from the Faculty of Engineering in Universitas Indonesia on 1997, Afdhal started his professional career in the banking industry by joining Executive Management Training at Bank Niaga. Later on, he continued his career joining Citibank, while also pursuing a Master’s degree on strategic management at Prasetiya Mulya Business School. He was entrusted to establish a subsidiary, Citigroup Securities Indonesia, in the Citigroup global market.

Afdhal’s interest in Islamic finance and Islamic economy made him pursue the industry by continuing to explore knowledge and expertise in various places, including a Master of Islamic Finance Practice qualification from INCEIF Malaysia, Durham University UK and the Islamic Finance Qualification from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, UK. In 2016, Afdhal established Pengelola Aset Islami Indonesia, and as a founding director he directly takes part in various Islamic economy development and Islamic business projects that are directly associated to the real economy sector. Afdhal is the founder and chairman of Yayasan Wakaf Produktif Pengelola Aset Islami Indonesia.

Ahsan Ali is responsible for the global Islamic corporate and institutional banking business at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB). Since joining SCB in March 2004, he has built this business from inception and has led several award-winning and industry-defining transactions. Ahsan has over 24 years of experience in the financial services industry, of which the last 14 have been in Islamic banking.

Ahsan holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a degree in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in addition to a CFA [chartered financial analyst] designation.

Currently, Dr Ali Fallahi is a country economist at the IsDB, based in the regional hub of Indonesia/Jakarta, and helps the bank develop country partnership strategies and programs in member countries.

Having an experience of 14 years working with the IsDB in different positions (such as country manager and field representative), Dr Ali has contributed to managing and enhancing the country portfolio, identifying areas of investment and promoting regional cooperation and integration based on the countries’ national development priorities.

Dr Ali began his career as a researcher in economic cooperation and integration, a senior expert at the Organization for Investment and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs of Iran and a lecturer in universities in the fields of economic development and international political economy.

Dr Ali has contributed to several forums and conferences as a main speaker including WIEF- SEACO Foundation Roundtable, Dhaka, Bangladesh; 27^th BIMP-EAGA Senior Officials’ Meeting, Brunei; 4th Indonesian Shariah Economic Festival, Surabaya, Indonesia; and IFN Indonesia Forum on the Halal economy and social finance.

Bung Aldilla has been the head of Shariah at CIMB Niaga since 2018. Bung was born on the 2^nd February 1972 in Pekanbaru. He started his career in 1998 at Citibank Indonesia in analytics. He graduated from Gunadarma University in computer science. Before joining CIMB Niaga, Bung worked at several companies such as GE Finance Indonesia (head of analytics), Bank Danamon (head of analytics) and Standard Chartered Bank for almost six years (at Standard Chartered, Bung was the EVP of Islamic banking and small business, managing small business loans and setting up Islamic banking in Indonesia). Bung continued his career at Permata Bank (as the EVP–GM of consumer lending) and at Panin Dubai Sharia (as the EVP–Head of business) and finally joined CIMB Niaga in 2018 until now.

Dien Sukmarini is Division Head of Islamic Capital Market (ICM) Policy Development in the Indonesia Financial Services Authority. Dien has been involved in ICM development for more than a decade. Dealing with ICM development from a regulator’s perspective has led her to have experience in conducting research, establishing roadmaps, drafting regulations, building institutional relations as well as delivering seminars and workshops.

Dien led the establishment of the Islamic Capital Market Roadmap 2015-2019 and Islamic Finance Development Roadmap 2017-2019. Additionally, Dien was the lead author of several publications related to ICM such as ‘Sukuk Handbook’ and ‘Directory of Indonesia Islamic Finance’. Dien is enthusiastic about new issues in ICM development. Last year, Dien led research on an Islamic-ESG index and corporate green Sukuk. Currently, Dien is responsible for a project dealing with the product development of social ICM and the establishment of guidance for SMEs to get funding from the ICM.

Dwi Irianti Hadiningdyah is the director of Islamic finance and carries out formulation and implementation of SBSN portfolio management policies, SBSN asset management, market intelligence in preparing recommendations for SBSN issuance and Fatwas and Shariah opinions in SBSN issuance. She also directs the management activities of Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia (including Indonesia I, II, and III) as SPVs and others. In addition, she is the director of Islamic finance in charge of compiling norms, standards, procedures and criteria, as well as providing technical guidance and evaluation in the field of Shariah financing.

Dwi Irianti works in the Directorate of Islamic Finance and is (ex officio) the president director of Perusahaan Penerbit SBSN Indonesia (SPV). She was a member of the legal drafting team of the Law on Government Islamic Securities/Sukuk Negara, Law on Islamic Banking and Law on Financial Services Authority of Indonesia. Other than that, she currently serves as the head of education and socialization at the Association of Indonesian Islamic Economists.

Additionally, Ibu Dwi Irianti is the Team Leader of the First Winner of the IsDB Competition on Impactful Achievement in Islamic Economy 2023

Dwi Irianti holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Diponegoro University, a Master of Arts degree in economics from the University of Delaware in the US and the Executive Training Islamic Finance Leadership Programme qualification from Cambridge University.

Elias is a Partner in Trowers & Hamlins’ International Banking and Finance Department.

Elias has a broad range of experience both in the conventional and Islamic finance spheres. He has significant experience in representing the full spectrum of stakeholders on a range of banking and finance transactions including project financing and real estate financing as well as capital market issuances.

Erwin Noekman is a chartered insurance practitioner awarded by Chartered Insurance Institute (UK). He has served more than two decades in the reinsurance and re-Takaful industry, not only in Indonesia, but also in London (UK), Labuan (Malaysia) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia).

Graduating with an MBA from the University of Liverpool (UK), Erwin also holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Trisakti University and several professional designations such as Associateship from Chartered Insurance Institute; (Cand) Fellowship from Malaysia Insurance Institute; Associateship from AAMAI; and Associateship from Islamic Insurance Society. Erwin is also a certified qualified risk governance professional.

Currently, Erwin is the executive director at Indonesia Takaful Association and is also acting as the executive director at Indonesia Insurance Council. He is also the chairman at Media Asuransi (insurance news and magazine), the chairman at Indonesia Insurance Foundation (successor to Marzuki Usman) and a director at LSP Perasuransian Syariah.

Erwin is a regular contributor to international publications and magazines. He has also been assigned as the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan external examiner for the fit and proper test for key persons of companies.

Ezra Nazula Ridha has been working for Manlife Aset Manajemen Indonesia (MAMI) for more than 15 years. He has more than 22 years of experience in the financial industry. Ezra started his career in the financial industry as a fund accountant at Chase Global Funds in Boston and moved back to Indonesia in 2000, where he joined Panin Securities and HSBC Indonesia before joining MAMI for the first time in January 2003. In 2007, Ezra left MAMI and joined AIA Financial Indonesia as the head of the Investment Division. He rejoined MAMI in November 2011. His expertise in managing fixed income portfolios has been recognized by the industry. For the period of 2012–22, Ezra was awarded the title of ‘Most Astute Investor in Asian Local Currency Bonds’ and for period of 2012–16 the title of ‘Most Astute Investor in Asian G3 Bonds’ from The Asset, a leading regional financial publication based in Hong Kong. In 2017, he was presented the Stars of Excellence award by Manulife Global. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Northeastern University, Boston and holds the Investment Manager Representative license from the Financial Services Authority.

Dr Fadlul Imansyah has been the CEO of the Indonesian Hajj Fund Management Agency (known as BPKH) since 2022. He holds a Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Management from the University of Indonesia. He is also currently pursuing a PhD in Public Health. Dr Fadlul has been a Certified Islamic Financial Professional from INCEIF Malaysia since 2016 and has a remarkable career spanning over 24 years in the financial industry in both private and governmental sectors. He started his career in the financial industry in 1999 and later served as a Deputy Director of Treasury and Investment at the Government Social Security Agency in Healthcare from 2017 to 2019 continuing his career as the Director of Shariah and Fixed Income at Principal Asset Management Indonesia from 2019 to 2022. He also served as Chief Investment Officer at Avrist Asset Management in 2022 and is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Economics, University of Indonesia until present.

Farouk Abdullah Alwyni is both an Islamic finance practitioner and a lecturer. He spent most of his Islamic finance career in the Jeddah-based IsDB headquarters handling IsDB trade finance operations in many Asian and CIS countries (1998–2007). Prior to running Alwyni International Consulting in 2012, Farouk was a member of the executive management of Al-Ijarah Indonesia Finance (a multi-finance company owned jointly by Bank Muamalat Indonesia (BMI) and Gulf-based Islamic financial institutions) and BMI. He was also one of the country correspondents for Kuala Lumpur based-Islamic Finance news (2012–17), and continues to contribute articles to IFN until now.

Farouk has been on London-based Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment’s Authorized Training Partner list since 2012 and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (also London-based)’s Islamic Finance Associate list since 2018. He has also been on the 2016, 2017 and 2018 lists of ISLAMICA 500 — a collection of individuals considered influential in the development of the Islamic economy. Farouk speaks and writes about finance, economics and development in a variety of events and publications. He also now serves in the advisory board of the Central Board of Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists. Starting in June 2022, he has been assigned as the vice-rector of Jakarta-based, health-focused Binawan University.

Hakan Ozyon is a seasoned business expert known for leading innovative strategies and nurturing talent. His dedication to excellence has enabled him to optimize all aspects of business management. He is adept at unlocking potential, promoting growth and increasing revenue. Hakan has deep ties in both the Islamic and broader Australian communities, enhancing business operations and setting corporate goals. With over 30 years of experience in business, he is a strategic visionary with a knack for building relationships, particularly in competitive areas. His role as CEO involves setting strategic paths and forming financial alliances. Notably, he has spent a decade transforming visions into pioneering Islamic financial services. Respected globally for his business acumen, Hakan is also a director at Islamic Bank Australia.

Dr Hurriyah El Islamy is the CEO and founder of consultancy HGC Firm. She previously served as an executive board member of Badan Pengelola Keuangan Haji, an independent sovereign agency empowered by law to manage the Indonesian Hajj pilgrim funds. She was named as one of the most active Islamic finance activists by Bank Indonesia and has global experience in Islamic finance, having served as the director for CIMB Group, responsible for all its Islamic businesses.

After serving Kuwait Finance House Bahrain as the head of its Compliance and Anti-Money Laundering Department and also as its legal counsel, Dr Hurriyah assumed the role as the director of Capinnova Investment Bank, an Islamic investment arm of the Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait.

Dr Hurriyah remains active in the Islamic finance industry; she is the Islamic finance advisor to the Astana International Finance Centre, a board member and strategic advisor to Islamic Fintech Alliance, and is also listed as an International Monetary Fund expert in Islamic finance and capital markets. She has a Bachelor of Laws (Hons) degree, a Master’s degree in corporate law and a PhD.

He has been working at the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2000 and began to focus on developing the Islamic capital market since 2010. Currently, he is head of Islamic capital market at the Indonesia Stock Exchange and also member of Islamic capital market committee at the National Sharia Board of Indonesia. In addition, he is also as a vice chairman of the Islamic capital market commitee at the Islamic Economy Society, member of Islamic capital market committee at the Islamic Economics Expert Association, and member of sharia stock selection committee. He is an originator of Sharia Capital Market School, an integrated training on stock investment in the Islamic capital market; the Indonesia Sharia Stocks Index (ISSI), an islamic stock composite index; the Sharia Online Trading System (SOTS), the world’s first sharia compliant online trading platform for retail investors, and the tradable sharia stocks zakat and the tradable sharia stocks waqf. He was the first Indonesian to receive the Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Award 2017 from Cambridge IFLP headquartered in London, England, and Upcoming Personality in Global Islamic Finance (Islamic Capital Market) 2020 from Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA). In 2022, he also has been chosen from GIFA to receive GIFA Advocacy Award (Islamic Capital Market). He is active as speaker about the Indonesian islamic capital market and also a post-graduate lecturer in Islamic capital market courses at several universities in Indonesia. He is also actively writing articles about the Islamic capital market and a regular contributor in the Islamic Finance News as a country correspondent since 2018. He is an author of two books about Islamic Capital market written in Indonesian.

Dr Lisa Listiana is the Founder of the Waqf Center for Indonesian Development and Studies (WaCIDS) and Falah Financial. She is currently a Lecturer in the Faculty of Economics and Business in Universitas Indonesia and a Coordinator of the Green Waqf Project. She pursued her PhD at the IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance (IIiBF) with full scholarship from the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP). She has a strong passion and research interest in Waqf, and has presented papers related to Waqf and Islamic finance in national and international conferences. She was named the ‘Best Talent of LPDP’ in 2017. Some of her papers related to Waqf and Islamic finance were awarded Best Paper in the 4th Annual Islamic Finance Conference (AIFC), in the Hajj Financial Management Agency (BPKH) Call for Paper 2018 and in the Shariah Economic and Finance Forum (FREKS) Call for Paper 2018. She holds a Master’s degree in Accounting from Universitas Indonesia with full scholarship.

Previously, she worked as an accountant for four years in ExxonMobil, an auditor in Ernst and Young, and a postdoctoral fellow in the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Indonesia.

Lusiana Saleh has been the head of digital banking, branchless and partnership since November 2022, after previously serving as the group head of branchless banking business development since 2017. She has held several key positions at CIMB Niaga since 2012, including E-channel and ATM development head, branch and branchless banking channel management head and E-channel strategic new wave marketing head. She previously had careers at ANZ Bank Singapore and Indonesia, Old Republic and Jeco Plastic Manufacturing in the US. Purdue University awarded her a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering.

Murniati Mukhlisin earned her degrees in Islamic accounting from International Islamic University of Malaysia (undergraduate), University of Indonesia (postgraduate) and University of Glasgow in the UK (doctoral). She was awarded with distinguished scholarships to support her studies.

Murniati has working experience in banking, financial and information technology services. Murniati then started her career as a lecturer in Islamic accounting and finance in 2002 and she is currently Islamic accounting-certified. She sits on the editorial advisory board for the Emerald Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research – UK, Journal of Muamalat and Islamic Finance Research – Malaysia and Turkish Journal of Islamic Economics.

For research, Murniati works on critical perspectives of research in the areas of financial reporting, Islamic accounting, Islamic banking and finance and Islamic financial literacy. Murniati is currently a rector at Tazkia Islamic University College, Bogor, Indonesia.

Murniati is also a public speaker and motivator. Together with her husband, Dr Luqyan Tamanni, M.Ec, CFP, Murniati authored an inspirational book called ‘Sakinah Finance’ that concerns Islamic family finance. She is also an active columnist in national and international media such as Republika, Majalah MySharing, Islampos, Suara Islam, Hidayatullah, Majalah Gontor, detik.com, Kompas, IFN news and ISFIRE-UK. Her research papers and activities are available at https://tazkia.ac.id/dosen/assoc-prof-dr-murniati-mukhlisin-m-acc/ and https://www.sakinahfinance.com/.

Prof Dr Sapta Nirwandar was born on the 13th May 1954, in Tanjung Karang, Lampung. He completed his study at several universities in Paris (Institute International d’Administration Publique, Paris; University Paris I-Sorbonne; École Nationale d’Administration; University Paris IX-Dauphine) for his doctoral program in public administration. He speaks English and French fluently.

Prof Dr Sapta has an extensive background in international and national public service, including state-owned enterprises and academia. After returning to Indonesia, he continued as a bureaucrat and held several key positions in many government offices.

Before retiring as a bureaucrat, Prof Dr Sapta was the vice-minister of the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy from 2011 to 2014. Now, he devotes his time encouraging the development of the Halal lifestyle industry as the chairman of the Indonesia Halal Lifestyle Centre. He frequently speaks at various international Halal seminars and conferences abroad. He also now leads the Indonesia Tourism Forum. He is active in assisting the government in advancing national tourism development.

On the 2nd December 2021, the ‘Silk Road’ International University of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Uzbekistan hosted a ceremony awarding the title of ‘Honorary Professor of the University’ to Prof Dr Sapta who is also a senior lecturer at Sahid University (Indonesia).

Dr Sutan Emir Hidayat is currently the Director of the Islamic Economy Supporting Ecosystem at the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance, the Republic of Indonesia. During 2019-2020, he was the Director of Education and Research at the National Committee for Islamic Finance. Prior to that, Dr Sutan was an Associate Professor and the Head of the Business School at the University College of Bahrain. He is actively engaged in academic research within his field and has presented several research papers at reputable international conferences such as the 11th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance at Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, in the US; and the Gulf Research Meeting at the University of Cambridge in the UK, among others. He was listed in ISFIN’s Islamica 500 directory as one of the top 500 influential personalities on a global scale from 2015 to 2020. ISFIN is a leading advisory firm for Islamic markets. Dr Sutan obtained both his MBA and PhD in Islamic Banking and Finance from the International Islamic University Malaysia.

Vineeta Tan is Managing Editor and Director of REDmoney Group, one of the world’s longest-running Islamic finance media houses. Vineeta oversees REDmoney Group’s stable of products including Islamic Finance news, IFN Fintech and Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment. With over a decade of experience in the journalism and publishing industry, Vineeta specializes in ethical and Islamic finance as well as fintech reporting and analysis covering regions including the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe. As managing editor of IFN, Vineeta leads the editorial direction and business development of IFN and its sister publications in addition to authoring reports, producing podcasts and conducting video interviews. She has interviewed senior industry players, key stakeholders and senior dignitaries including the finance/economic ministers of the Ivory Coast, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Vineeta is a regular on the international conference circuit as both a moderator and speaker. She has an MBA and is trained in Journalism and Sociology. Vineeta also holds the Islamic Finance Qualification awarded by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investments, UK.

Afdhal Aliasar is an Islamic economy and finance practitioner who is also an Islamic philanthropist. He is now a director of the Halal industry in the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance, Republic of Indonesia.

After acquiring his degree from the Faculty of Engineering in Universitas Indonesia on 1997, Afdhal started his professional career in the banking industry by joining Executive Management Training at Bank Niaga. Later on, he continued his career joining Citibank, while also pursuing a Master’s degree on strategic management at Prasetiya Mulya Business School. He was entrusted to establish a subsidiary, Citigroup Securities Indonesia, in the Citigroup global market.

Afdhal’s interest in Islamic finance and Islamic economy made him pursue the industry by continuing to explore knowledge and expertise in various places, including a Master of Islamic Finance Practice qualification from INCEIF Malaysia, Durham University UK and the Islamic Finance Qualification from the Chartered Institute of Securities and Investment, UK. In 2016, Afdhal established Pengelola Aset Islami Indonesia, and as a founding director he directly takes part in various Islamic economy development and Islamic business projects that are directly associated to the real economy sector. Afdhal is the founder and chairman of Yayasan Wakaf Produktif Pengelola Aset Islami Indonesia.

Ariff Sultan joined IdealRatings in 2012 and is based in Singapore. He is responsible for Asian sales and operations. Prior to IdealRatings, Ariff was the regional director for Russell Indexes and the business development director for Dow Jones Indices where he developed their conventional and Shariah index businesses in the Asian markets. He has 17 years of sales experience in financial and banking software where he worked with the leading financial software vendors including Callatay & Wouters, Fair Isaac, London Bridge Group and Misys. Prior to his sales career, Ariff was a software developer and project manager for financial software applications with Deloitte and Touché and subsequently with OCBC Bank in Singapore. Ariff has a Master of Business (Information Technology) degree from RMIT University in Melbourne and also attained the Diploma in Islamic Banking and Finance from International Islamic University Malaysia.

He has been working at the Indonesia Stock Exchange since 2000 and began to focus on developing the Islamic capital market since 2010. Currently, he is head of Islamic capital market at the Indonesia Stock Exchange and also member of Islamic capital market committee at the National Sharia Board of Indonesia. In addition, he is also as a vice chairman of the Islamic capital market commitee at the Islamic Economy Society, member of Islamic capital market committee at the Islamic Economics Expert Association, and member of sharia stock selection committee. He is an originator of Sharia Capital Market School, an integrated training on stock investment in the Islamic capital market; the Indonesia Sharia Stocks Index (ISSI), an islamic stock composite index; the Sharia Online Trading System (SOTS), the world’s first sharia compliant online trading platform for retail investors, and the tradable sharia stocks zakat and the tradable sharia stocks waqf. He was the first Indonesian to receive the Cambridge Islamic Finance Leadership Award 2017 from Cambridge IFLP headquartered in London, England, and Upcoming Personality in Global Islamic Finance (Islamic Capital Market) 2020 from Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA). In 2022, he also has been chosen from GIFA to receive GIFA Advocacy Award (Islamic Capital Market). He is active as speaker about the Indonesian islamic capital market and also a post-graduate lecturer in Islamic capital market courses at several universities in Indonesia. He is also actively writing articles about the Islamic capital market and a regular contributor in the Islamic Finance News as a country correspondent since 2018. He is an author of two books about Islamic Capital market written in Indonesian.

Dr Sutan Emir Hidayat is currently the Director of the Islamic Economy Supporting Ecosystem at the National Committee for Islamic Economy and Finance, the Republic of Indonesia. During 2019-2020, he was the Director of Education and Research at the National Committee for Islamic Finance. Prior to that, Dr Sutan was an Associate Professor and the Head of the Business School at the University College of Bahrain. He is actively engaged in academic research within his field and has presented several research papers at reputable international conferences such as the 11th Harvard University Forum on Islamic Finance at Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, in the US; and the Gulf Research Meeting at the University of Cambridge in the UK, among others. He was listed in ISFIN’s Islamica 500 directory as one of the top 500 influential personalities on a global scale from 2015 to 2020. ISFIN is a leading advisory firm for Islamic markets. Dr Sutan obtained both his MBA and PhD in Islamic Banking and Finance from the International Islamic University Malaysia.