KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — The global Islamic finance assets are projected to grow to US$3.2 trillion (RM13.6 trillion) by 2020, says Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading provider of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.
Its Head of Islamic Finance, Mustafa Adil said Islamic finance was considered the most developed sector within the various pillars of the Islamic economy and its growth in the global industry was broadly measured by the value of Islamic finance assets.
“In 2014, Islamic finance assets totalled US$1.8 trillion, with Islamic banking representing 74 per cent of this, followed by sukuk at 16 per cent,” he said on the sidelines of the 11th World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF), here today.
He said the information were based on Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector (ICD) Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance Development Indicator 2015.
“According to Thomson Reuters’ projections, Islamic finance assets are projected to grow to US$3.2 trillion by 2020, with Islamic banking reaching US$2.6 trillion,” he added.
As global acceptance of Islamic finance continues to grow, he said more corporates and non-Muslim sovereigns were announcing Islamic finance initiatives such as ethical finance or Shariah-compliant regulations, as well as sukuk issuances.
The increased appetite demonstrates that the investors are attracted to the benefits surrounding the ethical principles of Islamic finance, linking finance to physical assets, productive fiscal activities and real economic growth.
On another area, Mustafa said the global halal food and lifestyle sector, whose consumption stood at US$1.8 trillion in 2014, was projected to increase to US$2.6 trillion by 2020, according to findings from the ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015/2016’ that the company also introduced at the 11th WIEF.
“The halal food sector, with current consumption of US$1.13 trillion, is expected to grow to US$1.56 trillion by 2020, with the demand for ethical treatment of animals alone resulting in a US$100 billion organic food market,” he said.
Mustafa also gave an introduction to Salaam, the global Islamic economy gateway, that was launched at the Global Islamic Economy Summit in Dubai in October this year.
The website address is http://www.salaamgateway.com and 90 per cent of its contents could be accessed for free, he said. — Bernama
