Islamic finance industry needs trust building.

Byline: KHALIL AHMED

Interview with Mr Hamad Rasool Bhullar - an analyst

PAGE: Tell me something about yourself, please:

Hamad Rasool Bhullar: I have been working for both the private and public sectors over the last about 32 years in multiple roles with almost 27 years in professional trainings. With respect to my work with the financial sector, I have been involved in research and training for almost 27 years so far, and conducted over 350 trainings on different aspects of finance, business ethics, audit and corporate governance from basic concepts to professional applications in projects finance, Shariah Compliant risk management, investment management and financial analysis etc. in addition to the freelance consultancy and financial advisory in these fields. I remained a non-executive member on the Board of an Investment Bank for almost four years.

My qualifications and experience over the last 32 years, have mainly been in accountancy, corporate law, IT, economics, corporate finance and Islamic finance, Takaful, business turnarounds, projects finance, audit and ethics with trainings and business advisory in multiple areas of corporate sector as well as public sector within and outside Pakistan. I have a privilege to have issued the first Sukuk in Pakistan's Investment Canvas with some other first such initiatives.

PAGE: Since the inception of the Islamic finance industry in the 1970s, there has been steady growth in the demand for Shariah-compliant products and services. What is your perspective about it?

Hamad Rasool Bhullar: It is a broad-based question practically, yes globally the Shariah-Compliant products and services in the financial sectors started even in late 1960s. However, after the establishment of Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) in 1975, the things started spreading quickly, as IsDB played a great deal of service in developing uniformity in practices as the IsDB provided a common platform for research and development in multiple areas of Islamic Finance related projects across 57 countries.

In the meantime, some more institutions were established and developed towards the overall development of the cause.

Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI) was established during 1990-91 in Bahrain, as a leading international non-profit organization responsible for development and issuance of standards to guide globally in operations and reporting by Islamic finance industry.

In Pakistan, we...