Innovative Finance Sources Main Theme at Awqaf ConferencePublish Date: 2010-02-17 17:00:15 Story Code: 25390 DUBAI — The Dubai International Conference for Awqaf was opened by Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Executive Council on Tuesday.
The two-day event, to run till February 17 at the Intercontinental hotel in Dubai Festival City, will see the participation of experts and organisations of Awqaf and social development from 18 countries. Secretary General of Awqaf & Minors Affairs Foundation in Dubai, Tayeb Al Rais, said the foundation has seen four-fold growth in terms of annual endowment projects by the end of 2009 as compared to 2005. “We are currently running 40 projects worth around Dh2 billion.” Rais said the conference, themed ‘Innovative sources to finance small and medium enterprises’, is aimed to achieve more quality endowment with the help of international experience. With 22 specialised study papers, the conference will help better identify the key areas, create a network of cooperation among endowment foundations, communicate with young enterprises, reach a common ground matching Awqaf investments, and define the standards, he said. Bader Omar Al Dafa, Under Secretary General of he United Nations Executive Secretary of ESCWA, said that the global financial crisis has made non-traditional ways indispensable to revive national economies. Dr Adel Khalil, an expert of the World Trade Organization said the revival of national economies at low costs in a relatively short period should be aimed at. Dr Hisham Daftardar, head of dues and balances settlement unit with the Islamic Deployment Bank of Jeddah said the endowment has been recognised as an important third sector contributing significantly to the social and economic development. “The importance of the sector is first seen in terms of the huge assets it controls, in its social expenditure, in the number of people it employs, and in its significant contribution to the economy which represents as much as 10 per cent of the GDP of some countries,” he said. Daftardar said Awqaf organisations have the capability to raise funds. “Endowment annual revenue from fund raising is in vicinity of $10-15 billion, about 60 per cent of which comes from individuals and 40 per cent from business corporations and other institutions,” he said. Daftardar said Awqaf investments are not punting operations. “They do not invest in speculative high-risk projects. Their focus is on long term community development projects which are aligned with their objectives and which support the safety and performance of assets in their custody.” © Khaleej Times 2010. All rights reserved. Share this story:  Digg
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