GK Partners, in partnership with The British Library and the Institute of Islamic Banking & Insurance (IIBI), hosted the UK’s first Access to Islamic Finance (A2IF) conference on 13 July 2009 at the British Library Conference Centre.
The conference focused on how to improve Islamic finance investment in socially responsible businesses in the UK and followed on from the series of Islamic finance workshops run at the Library.
The 90 delegates were from diverse sectoral backgrounds and for many of them this was their first significant engagement with Islamic finance. As professionals working on enterprise development, A2IF enabled them to understand the relevance of Islamic finance to their work and highlighted how they can make new business partnerships.
As well as the plenary sessions, master classes on Islamic Finance were held for the benefit of delegates who were new to Islamic Finance. In addition the A2IF market place offered an opportunity for institutions such as the Islamic Bank of Britain and the Institute of Islamic Bank of Britain to meet delegates interested in their services.
Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills wrote prior to the event:
“I welcome your conference. In particular, the aim of increasing and optimising access to Islamic financial products through the strengthening of partnerships between the financial, business, enterprise, social enterprise, voluntary and charitable sectors. It will be useful in furthering understanding of the contribution Islamic finance can make to our economic and social communities at all levels”.
As part of the A2IF programme, GK Partners is completing a research project assessing the nature and size of Islamic finance investment in the UK. This will be published in late 2009 and followed by a series of thematic A2IF events throughout 2009/10.