KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Najib Razak today called on Muslim countries to develop a
revolutionary method in Islamic finance for entrepreneurs and
financiers to leverage on each other in a way that would contribute to
sustainable economic growth.
The prime minister said although barriers to development and
prosperity remained, the Islamic world in general had made remarkable
progress, with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member
countries becoming a significant group in the global economy.
Najib said the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of OIC countries
had jumped from USD7.5 trillion in 2008 to USD9.4 trillion in 2012,
according to last year's report by the Statistical Economic and Social
Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries.
"Looking at these numbers, the potential for our Muslim brothers are
limitless."
"This is why we need to continuously explore working together to
find new approaches and challenge ourselves with new ways of
thinking," he said in his keynote address at the Association of
National Development Finance Institutions in Member Countries of the
Islamic Development Bank (ADFIMI) - SME Bank International Forum 2014
here.
He said many Muslim countries had transformed in the past few decades
to become hubs and sources of wealth in areas including logistics, oil
and gas, services, and Islamic finance.
"The Muslim world, through organisations such as ADFIMI must
continue to emphasise that the Islamic nations were peaceful
sovereigns and a source of prosperity for the world.
"Our potential is enormous if we organise and get our act together."
Present were Bank Negara governor Tan Sri Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz,
Khazanah Nasional Bhd deputy chairman Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, SME
Bank Group managing director Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus, and ADFIMI
chairman Mehmet Emin Ozcan.