The Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC), Statistics Division of the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), and United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) jointly organized the Workshop on ‘Islamic Finance in the National Accounts’ between 31 October and 02 November 2018 in Ankara, Turkey. The workshop was hosted by SESRIC at its Headquarters in Ankara and was attended by experts who are directly involved in the compilation of Islamic finance statistics for the national accounts in their countries.

The Workshop was organized based on the decisions of the Task Force on Islamic Finance established under the Intersecretariat Working Group on National Accounts (ISWGNA) that receives its mandate from the United Nations Statistical Commission (UNSC).

The workshop was attended by 25 participants from National Statistical Offices (NSOs) of 5 OIC countries, including Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Palestine, and Turkey, and 6 international organisations, namely Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions (AAOIFI), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), ESCWA, UNSD and SESRIC. Furthermore, academicians from the Social Sciences University of Ankara (ASBU), Rafik Hariri University and Ras Al Khaimah Center for Statistics and Studies attended the Workshop.

During his opening remarks, HE Amb. Musa Kulaklıkaya, Director General of SESRIC, addressed the participants and emphasized on the importance of Islamic finance as an effective instrument for alleviating poverty and sharing prosperity for all, if a sound and enabling statistical architecture supported by the data flowing from the National Statistical Systems exists.

“Developing partnerships among the data producers and host institutions is critical so as to have harmonized, reliable and consistent data for all the parties affiliated to the Islamic finance industry”, Ambassador Kulaklıkaya said.

The objectives of the Workshop were to enhance the capacity of participants to; better understand the differences between Islamic finance and conventional finance and their implications for the national accounts; apprehend and apply the draft recommendations and guidance to classify the Islamic financial instruments according to their sectors and record Islamic finance transactions in the national accounts; and review the recommendations to improve the coordination between regional and international organizations in the collection of statistics on Islamic finance.

The Workshop included presentations from Member States, and covered topics such as Sectorization of Islamic financial corporations; classification of Islamic financial instruments and corresponding property income; calculation of output and value added of Islamic financial services; and coordination between regional and international organizations in the collection of statistics on Islamic finance.

Through collaboration with various stakeholders at national and international levels such as membership in the ISWGNA Task Force on Islamic Finance, SESRIC closely follows up the developments in the Islamic finance statistics arena and strengthens the synergy to improve the Islamic finance data quality and sound infrastructure for better data production and dissemination.

The relevant documents and presentations of the Workshop are accessible via the following link: https://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/rameetings/tfoct2018/lod.asp

Photos

https://flic.kr/s/aHskHTFsFK