29th May 2023
Riyadh
#IFNIPF2023
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About The Dialogues
Infrastructure development is at the heart of economic growth and nation-building. Unfortunately, there remains a huge funding and investment gap, exacerbated by the limited sources of traditional funding, particularly from the public sector. The World Bank estimates that some US$1.3 trillion is needed every year to meet infrastructure demand in emerging markets alone.
This presents an immense opportunity for Islamic finance, especially when the role of the private sector in addressing this funding gap can no longer be denied. Project and infrastructure finance is also taking an interesting turn as the call for green and resilience infrastructure rings louder than ever as governments tackle their climate goals.
Islamic finance leaders, particularly Saudi Arabia, are answering this clarion call, infusing Shariah compliant mechanisms into their funding vehicles and strategies to meet their infrastructure needs while being aligned to the UN SDGs. Saudi Arabia already rolled out over US$1.1 trillion in real estate and infrastructure projects since the launch of its Vision 2030 in 2013. More are expected over the next decade, and Islamic finance will likely play a prominent role in this endeavor.
It is in this backdrop that IFN, in partnership with the IsDB Group, is organizing the IFN Infrastructure & Project Finance Dialogues in Riyadh. The Dialogues will invite the sector’s leading experts to identify opportunities, challenges and strategies to capitalize on Islamic finance to meet infrastructure and project needs.
WHAT THEY SAID
The efforts of IFN in bringing together sustainable elements in Islamic finance and in driving the panel discussion toward blitz-scaling the current efforts in Islamic finance were truly commendable. Over the course of the entire session, the focus was on identifying a common sustainability playbook in the existing Shariah compliant Islamic financial structure. During this session, we discussed the significance of regulators, market players and the trends influencing the implementation of ESG pillars for Islamic finance. Panel discussions concluded with discussions on strategies for driving and converging sustainability to Shariah compliant Islamic finance structures in the future.
The panel discussion on Islamic sustainable and responsible investing brought together a good blend of stakeholders from various aspects of the industry including Islamic finance, sustainable investing, ESG advisory, insurance, banking, legal and projects. This made the discussion very interesting and insightful, bringing different perspectives to the table.
This prestigious event carried out interesting discussions on the Islamic finance landscape in Saudi Arabia and provided business networking opportunities for industry stakeholders. The analytical insights shared by the panelists into the development, growth and challenges of its constituent sectors, including Islamic banking, Islamic capital markets, Waqf and Islamic fintech are thought-provoking. I congratulate the organizers for successfully hosting this event in the globally largest Islamic finance industry by asset size.
We enjoyed participation from lawyers, bankers, regulators and clients at IFN Dialogue Riyadh. The quality was impressive, thanks to the good reputation and skills of the organizers. Over time, these events make a difference; our industry adapts and changes because our professional community stays more coherent because of these events.
IFN has done it again. Getting together Islamic finance influencers to assure the free flow of ideas and information. This is how innovations in our field are born. Bringing in the financiers from GCC, Europe and Southeast Asia is a great recipe for the effective distribution of intellectual products. Kudos to the organizers for a perfectly assembled event
An Introduction to 2023
We were delighted to be back in the conference rooms in 2022 following a near two-year hiatus, and it seems you were too.
We saw capacity audiences for the UK, Asia and Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment Forums, and strong numbers everywhere else. We believe 2023 will surpass pre-pandemic numbers in all our core markets.
We have also learned much this past year and will implement the following:
- The Forum format is essential in certain markets, and will remain in London, Muscat and Kuala Lumpur in 2023.
- Our exclusive Dialogues have been warmly welcomed by all those participating and attending, and we will increase this offering in 2023, with events in Dubai, Riyadh, Doha, Jakarta, and Manama.
- Live streaming has not taken off as many expected. However, watching recorded content has skyrocketed — certainly for us anyway. So, all Forums will be recorded and posted online for our global audience within a week of each event.
- But, as our audiences enjoy recorded content, we will be organizing various country and sector ‘OnAir’ events and posting online for all to view.
- Islamic sustainable is big. Our ISFI Forum in Kuala Lumpur in 2022 was outstanding and will remain for 2023. And, with COP28 in the UAE in 2023, we are introducing the ISFI Dialogues, which will be held in Dubai.
We are excited for the new year and look forward to welcoming you to our events and assisting in the continued global growth of the Islamic financial markets.
#IFNDIALOGUES2023
Dialogues Agenda
9.15 – 9.20
Welcome Address
9.20 – 9.30
Keynote Address
9.30 – 11.30
Regulation and Frameworks for the Participation of the Private Sector in the Provision of Infrastructure and Public ServicesTowards Saudi Vision 2030: developing strategic government projects, and infrastructure and public services across multiple sectors through the effective participation of private sector expertise and Shariah compliant finance and investment
- Public-Private Partnerships and Shariah compliant finance in the region: certainty, risk sharing and doing good through the provision of public services
- What is the evolution of Public-Private Partnerships and what are the key tenets of contractual arrangements between governments and private parties?
- What are the development milestones and pipeline of regional privatization processes?
- What are the current and future sectors and activities highlighted for private sector participation in the Gulf?
- How are concessions currently awarded? What is the process and how are concession authorities best approached?
- What are the opportunities for renewable energy in the region and how do Public-Private Partnerships play a role?
- What do The Private Sector Participation Law and The Regulation of the National Center for Privatization in Saudi Arabia entail in practice?
- What role do Islamic financial institutions play in providing both financing and advisory in the development of Public-Private Partnerships?
- Where does sustainability play a role in Public-Private Partnerships, and how can regulators encourage the financing of low-carbon technologies?
11.30 – 12:00
Coffee
12:00 – 14.00
Private Sector Participation in the Provision of Infrastructure and Public Services: Shariah Compliant Financing, Investment and the Management of RiskFunding, capitalizing and managing the risk of Public-Private Partnerships projects through Shariah compliant structures.
- How do interest rates and oil prices influence project and infrastructure finance in the region, and can these risks be mitigated using Shariah compliant tools?
- The roles of Murabahah and Ijarah, and the use of term and bridge funding structures
- What is the recourse of Islamic financial institutions to projects assets, rights and interests held as collateral?
- What does project Sukuk offer? What structures have proved successful in the region and what credit enhancement measures have been effective?
- What do insurance for investment and export credit and other forms of guarantees offer?
- How can complex political, financial, volume, output and completion risks associated with Public-Private Partnerships projects be managed?
- What concession and offtake structures, types and agreements are currently employed in the region, and can risk be effectively managed?
- What are the obligations for the providers of equity and finance towards meeting finance and investment obligations under concession agreements?
- Managing the key risks of Build-Operate-Transfer contracts. What do variations of BOT offer lenders, developers, institutional investors, and project companies?
- How do we manage climate risk in Public-Private Partnerships projects, and how can ESG clauses be written into smart PPP contracts?
14.00
Luncheon
Dialogues Speakers
Advisory Board
Bilal Kahlon
Partner &Head of Finance - Saudi Arabia, Trowers & HamlinsBilal is a partner in the firm’s Bahrain office.
Bilal has over 10 years of experience in banking and finance matters in the Gulf region with a particular expertise in project finance, Islamic finance and debt capital markets.
Bilal leads our Saudi finance practice and has consistently been recognised as a leading lawyer in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by international legal directories including Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 and IFLR. Having grown up in Bahrain, Bilal has strong ties with Bahrain and the Gulf region as a whole. Bilal is admitted to practice in England.
Khalid Howladar
Chairman, MRHB DeFiKhalid Howladar is the chairman of MRHB DeFi, the world’s first ethical and faith-based decentralized finance platform. In addition, Khalid is an active innovation angel, advisor and board member for a diverse mix of fintech, crypto, edtech and Islamic economy start-ups through his firm Acreditus Partners. Lastly, he is the senior managing director and head of credit and Sukuk for RJ Fleming & Co, the boutique merchant banking advisory of the Fleming family.
With a rare confluence of financial, tech, social and faith-driven perspectives, Khalid is a recognized authority in his fields and has addressed investors worldwide and audiences at the World Bank, IMF, European Central Bank and Institute of International Finance.
Khalid gained industry prominence from his 15 years at Moody’s Investors Service in London and Dubai culminating as both the global head of Islamic finance and the head of the GCC banking team.
Khalid’s most prominent start-up role was as angel and later chairman of Small Pharma, a pioneering psychedelic UK biotech that successfully made the transition from start-up to a public 2021 listing on the TSXV Canada during his board leadership.
Mashael Al-Otaibi
Head of Fixed Income and Treasury, Saudi Real Estate Refinance CompanyMashael Al-Otaibi is the director of the Fixed Income and Treasury Department at the Saudi Real Estate Refinance Company (SRC) fully owned by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF). Mashael joined SRC in 2017 and was a member of the establishing team; prior to heading the Fixed Income and Treasury Department, she was the head of capital markets and deputy treasurer at SRC. She also was the vice-president and fixed income portfolio manager at Riyad Bank; and a senior asset class specialist at the National Commercial Bank (NCB), Saudi Arabia, now known as the Saudi National Bank.
Mashael has extensive experience in fixed income, with a focus on advising a range of different Sukuk program establishments in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, including fixed income portfolio management and trading. In addition to possessing 13 years of professional experience in financial institutions, Mashael holds an MBA specializing in finance from Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from King Saud University, Saudi Arabia. She holds two Leadership Executive Certificates from INSEAD University, France.
Maya Marissa Malek
CEO, Amanie AdvisorsMaya Marissa Malek is the managing director/CEO of Amanie Advisors’s global office, based in Dubai. Maya is a multiple award-winning Islamic finance expert and executive leader (also recognized as one of the ‘Top 50 Most Influential Women in Middle East Finance’ by Financial News UK of Dow Jones Group) with extensive experience driving strategic planning and collaboration with key industry players — including regulators, corporates, banks and standard-setting bodies.
Maya skillfully bridges efforts of diverse regulatory and structural groups — identifying and targeting performance/operations gaps — and is equipped with a history of success working closely with globally-renowned Shariah scholars while creating awareness of Islamic finance worldwide. Her profession in and passion for Islamic finance has taken her around the globe creating awareness on Islamic finance, and innovating and creating demand for Islamic finance to take root. She is an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals, a member of the Green Sukuk Working Group in the UAE and a Shariah consultant for the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group and a frequent Islamic finance speaker at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs in the UK, the world’s most influential think tank.
Mike Tirman
Partner, Ice MillerMike Tirman is a partner in Ice Miller’s Real Estate Group and advises and represents clients in all areas of real estate law, including acquisitions and dispositions, financing (including various forms of Shariah compliant financing), ground leasing, development, land use and zoning, entity structuring and joint ventures.
Some of Mike’s representative transactions include, among others, representing a buyer in a US$195 million Shariah compliant acquisition and CMBS financing of a portfolio of 30 industrial properties, representing a landlord in a US$104 million refinance of a portfolio of four industrial properties in New Jersey encumbered by ground leases and representing a REIT in a US$30 million acquisition of a parking garage and execution of a reverse 1031 exchange.
Mike is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Indiana.
Dr Mohammed Ishaq Ali
Head of Equity Funds, ANB InvestDr Mohammed Ishaq Ali is a professional with extensive experience in the field of investment management with several organizations across Saudi Arabia and India. He has a successful track record of managing Shariah compliant mutual funds and discretionary portfolios, consistently outperforming the market, peer groups and benchmarks.
Dr Mohammed’s core expertise involves the formulation of investment strategies, asset allocations and portfolio diversification though quantitative screening, macro assessment and stock-specific ideas. He is active in industry/market research to identify mispriced assets in any conditions of the market. His capability to manage risk and comply with regulatory frameworks and Shariah guidelines is invaluable to asset management departments.
Dr Mohammed has a distinct record of teaching MBA and CFA students in the areas of corporate finance and investments, apart from providing training to investment bankers. He has authored books, published articles and presented papers in various conferences and seminars.
Shibeer Ahmed
Partner, Squire Patton BoggsDialogues Partners
PARTNERS
IdealRatings
IdealRatings was incorporated in 2006 in San Francisco with a corporate objective to provide SRI/ESG and Shariah compliant solutions to ethical investors and enable them to identify such instruments across different asset classes in the global market. IdealRatings serves clients in over 30 countries with a range of capital market solutions including:
- Equities – A web-based platform covering over 40,000 stocks, where fund managers can screen equities using different, custom-built ESG/SRI/Responsible Investments and Shariah rulebooks or guidelines. This solution caters to different purification calculation methodologies with a comprehensive set of reports for fund managers to manage their portfolio.
- REITs – Global coverage of all listed REITs that could be screened in accordance with different standard Shariah rulebooks or guidelines.
- Indexes – Co-branded and jointly marketed by FTSE-Russell Indexes and a separate series with Thomson Reuters for the global markets, designed for fund management and investment benchmarking. In addition, IdealRatings is able to provide custom-built indexes for the fund management industry.
- Sukuk – A unique solution which includes the global Sukuk and a pioneering Sukuk-screening solution that enables fund managers to customize their Sukuk selection in accordance to their Shariah rulebook, guidelines or investment preference, and
- Brokerage – The solution provides broking houses the ability to screen global equity markets, a technical analysis of the markets and equities, buy/sell/hold recommendations and purification amounts.
Norton Rose Fulbright
Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm. Our Islamic finance lawyers have long-standing experience in delivering pioneering legal advice on Islamic finance transactions for Islamic financial institutions, conventional banks and corporates worldwide.
With more than 30 years of experience in Islamic finance law, our lawyers have a wealth of knowledge across a range of Shariah compliant structures, including market-leading experience in Sukuk transactions, Murabahah, Istisnah, Ijarah and Musharakah financings and Takaful deals.
As well as having significant transactional experience, our lawyers regularly advise clients on Shariah governance matters, including advising the government of Dubai on the creation of the first standard code of practice for Islamic finance law, marking the first Islamic law code of practice to be standardized in a legislative framework.
Based in the world’s economic hubs and key Islamic finance centers across the Middle East, Europe, the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia and Africa, our lawyers provide legal advice to governments worldwide on legislation concerning Islamic finance products.
CONSULTANCY PARTNER
Redmoney Consulting
Launched in April 2021, Redmoney Consulting is a new and highly focused advisory firm focusing on global Islamic, Ethical, Responsible and Sustainable Finance. Redmoney Consulting is a logical extension of REDmoney Group, the Islamic finance industry’s leading media house with a truly global audience. In addition to Islamic finance, the Group has steadily increased its coverage of the green and sustainable finance sector as the two markets continue to converge. Redmoney Consulting provides an expansive service allowing its consultants to provide advisory and consulting services at the highest level for the most discerning of clients.
LEAD MEDIA PARTNERS
MEDIA PARTNER
In The News
IFN Monthly Review: December — Wrapping up 2022
The global Islamic finance and banking industry closed 2022 on a high note, with notable Sukuk issuances from Nigeria, Tanzania...
Sovereign Securities: Saudi Arabia debuts dollar-denominated Sukuk in 2022
Saudi Arabia launched its first international issuance in 2022, while Bangladesh is looking to finance its development…
Saudi Arabia and UAE pursue insurance supervision consolidation through new framework
The central banks of Saudi Arabia and the UAE have signed an MoU to establish a cooperation framework to strengthen the…
Saudi Arabia: Keeping up the lead
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia maintains its position as the world’s largest holder of Islamic financial assets, with over 51.5%…
The Previous IFN KSA Dialogues
IFN KSA Dialogues 2022
An Islamic banking and finance pioneer, with strong governmental support, Saudi Arabia’s Shariah banking industry held a 51.5% share of its domestic market, as of May 2022. The Kingdom showed no signs of slowing down, and with a well-established domestic debt market, it had the benefit of easily issuing local currency Sukuk.
IFN returned to Saudi Arabia for the eighth time to host a new and unique series of IFN Dialogues, exploring the hurdles and opportunities in one of the most active and influential markets in the Islamic financial world.
The IFN KSA Dialogues is a series of extended discussions amongst leading industry players, both domestic and international, to discuss and identify the Kingdom’s most pressing issues.
The three scheduled Dialogues focused on: Islamic Capital Markets, Banking, and Investment; The Convergence of Islamic and Sustainable Investing in the Kingdom; and the role Digital Innovation, Technology and FinTech will play in the KSA.
About REDmoney Events
REDmoney events designs, organizes and hosts industry-leading conferences, forums, roadshows, seminars and dialogues focusing on the Islamic financial markets across a global, regional and national level. Leveraging an exceptional network of the industry’s elite and supported by the expertise of the REDmoney publishing and seminars divisions, REDmoney Events are able to provide access to a unique array of influential speakers, panelists and participants from a cross-section of the global industry to debate the most significant issues affecting the Shariah compliant financial markets.
REDmoney events are differentiated by their complimentary yet qualified attendance structure, ensuring the highest quality of both delegates and contributors. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, attendance ensures exclusive access to the leaders in their field across all sectors and markets.
TThe annual IFN Asia and IFN UK Forums are categorically recognized as their continent’s leading industry events since their inception in 2006 and 2007 respectively. The Dialogues series has also become an integral element of the REDmoney events series and have cemented their position as leading, must-attend, events. In 2022, we introduced the Islamic Sustainable Finance & Investment Forum, which was an enormous success, and will become a mainstay.
For any inquiries contact us
Our team will be glad to answer any questions you may have about this event.
