Prof. Savaş Alpay, Director-General of SESRIC, delivered a keynote speech at the 2nd International Conference on Islamic Economics and Economies of the OIC Countries (ICIE2013) which was held from 29 to 30 January 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 2nd Conference was organized jointly by the Kulliyyah of Economics and Management Sciences at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Ministry of Finance Malaysia, and Islamic Research and Training Institute, and held on the theme Islamic Economic Solutions for OIC Countries: Theory and Policy.

As the world struggles to recover from increasingly frequent financial and economic crises, OIC countries have the opportunity to embrace Islamic economics as an indigenous approach to guide their economic policy responses. However, for this to meaningfully happen, both the Islamic theoretical foundations and their connections to policy making and implementation must be given greater attention and be integrated. ICIE2013, in this regard, provided a platform to bring together both academics and policy makers to discuss how greater effort could be made in this direction. The main focus of the Conference was on, but not limited to, Islamic economics, policy issues confronting the OIC countries and how Islamic economics could be utilized to provide real-world solutions to these challenges, and Islamic finance.

In his keynote speech to the Conference, entitled “Critical Perspectives on Socio-Economic Development and Transformation in the Islamic World”, Prof. Alpay reviewed the most recent developments in the OIC countries through a number of key benchmarks including some major economic, social and science-and-technology-related performance indicators. Prof. Alpay’s speech also provided critical insights into the major challenges and prospects for the socio-economic development and transformation process in OIC countries. To that end, the keynote speech covered the recent trends in a broad spectrum of areas including production, trade, unemployment, natural resources, research and development, agriculture, education, health and poverty.

For more information, please visit the event’s website at http://www.iium.edu.my/icie/