- On behalf of the organising committee for KLIFF 2021, I have great pleasure to welcome all the digitally registered participants to 16th series of Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Virtual Forum or KLIFF.
- The 16th KLIFF is being held under the patronage of His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah, the Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan and the Royal Patron for Malaysia’s Islamic Finance Initiative.
- It is by the grace of Allah the Almighty that we are able to organise another instalment of KLIFF this year amidst challenging situations and conditions the world over due to the pandemic Covid 19. Different from the previous 15 KLIFF events since 2004, the 16th KLIFF 2021 will be brought to you via a digital platform.
We would like to believe that the wheel of life and innovation, as well as dream and inspiration, must continue to be activated irrespective of the world real conditions, as to create new opportunities and new solutions for our dynamic human colony on Earth. Humanity and innovation are inseparable. Once the humans stop innovating, the humanity comes to an end.
On that note, we have been working hard and diligently to bring forth to you the 16th KLIFF under the theme of “Setting the Road Ahead Towards Economic Recovery”.
Alhamdulillah, all praise to Allah the Almighty, that we have received great and positive traction and response from all corners of the world. As I speak this afternoon, we have almost 2,000 participants who are registered to join the KLIFF community this year. By any standard, this reflects the level of the heart beating of Islamic finance fraternity across the globe. The interest for Islamic finance agenda is still on the increasing mode from one year to another.
We definitely look forward to listening to the Royal Address by His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfulah, the Sultan of Perak Darul Ridzuan and the Royal Patron for Malaysia’s Islamic Finance Initiative.
- The Royal Speech which will mark the official opening for KLIFF 2021 is envisaged to provide the necessary insights and wisdoms for the Islamic finance industry to consolidate and calibrate to move forward towards setting the roadmap, as well as action plan for economic recovery in the near and far future.
- The Royal Speech by His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah has been all along been the focal point of attention in the past series of KLIFF. We are profoundly grateful to His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin for His Royal Highness’s unreserved support and encouragement for KLIFF all these years.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
- Setting the roadmap ahead is a must in all types of industry, big or small. Obviously, Islamic finance is not an exception. It is true that the mental courage to assess the past and current landscape is equally essential before we firm out our strategic steps for the future. In order to survive, all industry must permanently redefine itself, more so in this difficult time posed by pandemic Covid 19 onslaught. As the saying goes, the only constant in life is change.
- What is next in the journey of unlocking the future is the mental due diligence and intelligence to predict what would be the new trends and expectations, and perhaps the pain points of the stakeholders particularly of new and up-becoming stakeholder.
- The ability to review the past and predict the future, dealing with the big data of the industry and society alike, will likely put the policy makers and the leading players on the centre stage of action.
- Surely, all stakeholders from shareholders, regulators, senior management and compliance officers, product developers, as well as the customers and public at large, are inspired to see the pervasive impact of new policies and products on the ground. It is worth noting that in this modern world, the impact measurement has become a new ideology. No matter how much we do or plan to do, what is more respected and admired by the people is their impact, be it economic or social impact.
- In order to find the right balance and alignment to build or rebuild the grand design of economic recovery and economic empowerment, we have brought to the centre stage of discussion and deliberation a number of themes and issues in this 16th series of KLIFF.
- We are also grateful to many leading speakers around the world who are passionate to share their practical and intellectual inputs and insights on many various themes and subject matters throughout these 2-day event. We strongly believe that your niche and hands-on contribution will make this forum a distinguished and far-reaching event on this planet in the realm of modern Islamic finance practices.
- We are indeed thankful to YB Senator Datuk Seri Utama Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Minister of Ministry of Finance Malaysia for his participation in 16th KLIFF. We are also cognisant of the relentless support by the Government of Malaysia towards making Islamic finance one of the GDP contributions to the nation.
- We are also grateful to Y. Bhg Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar, Chairman of Bursa Malaysia for agreeing to speak at this event too. Both of them will be delivering special addresses right after the Royal Speech.
- On behalf of the organising committee and all the participants, it is my duty to thank all the speakers and moderators to speak your great mind on the KLIFF platform. We look forward for your active and insightful presentation on the digital stage, which I am sure will impress the audience who are tuning in to our forum from all over the world. We trust you are able to make this forum distinctive, meaningful and impactful.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
- There is one important fact that need to be recognised. Without the tremendous support of all the sponsors, this event might not materialise at all. I have the great duty to acknowledge and thank all the sponsors for supporting us in one way or another to make this event a reality. I would like to put on record our special thank to CIMB Islamic for being the Main Sponsor of KLIFF 2021. Our thanks also go to our gold sponsors comprising of Bank Muamalat, Lembaga Zakat Negeri Kedah Darul Aman, Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, Bursa Malaysia and AmBank Islamic. Our thanks go also to other sponsors, partners and collaborators.
- Before I end my welcoming speech, I feel inspired to thank each and every participant who have been amazing in making all the efforts to register for this event and to join us in this blessed opening session by His Royal Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah. The respond was so huge and massive so much so we need to limit the participants up to 2,000 accounts only. We hope that you will find this event insightful, stimulating, promising and unlocking.
- Finally, on behalf of all my colleagues in the organising committee, the speakers and moderators and the entire participants, we feel both humbled and honoured to have His Royal Highness kind participation in our event via recorded video due to Covid 19 restrictions.
- Thank you for your kind listening and I would like to wish everyone a productive and memorable event ahead of you.
