Pakistan, Malaysia ink trade accords
By Asad Cheema

ISLAMABAD—Pakistan and Malaysia Sunday signed an agreement and a MoU to share the knowledge and expertise in Islamic finance and to construct roads in Pakistan.
The MoU and agreement were signed at the Prime Minister House following the officials talks held between Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and his Malaysian Counterpart Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between National Institute of Banking and Finance Limited Pakistan and The International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF), Malaysia were signed by Dr. Shamshad Akhtar Chairman Board of Directors and Governor State Bank of Pakistan and Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz Chairman INCEIF Board of Directors on behalf of their respective governments.
Both the Prime Ministers Shaukat Aziz and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi along with the members of their delegations witnessed the signing ceremony held at Prime Minister House following the talks.
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar, Governor of the State Bank of Pakistan signed for NIBAF, in her capacity as the Chairman of the NIBAF Board of Directors, while the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz signed on behalf of INCEIF, in her capacity as Chairman of INCEIF Board of Directors.
It is a coincident that both the governors of state banks of respective countries are female.
The MoU aims at establishing a framework of cooperation between NIBAF and INCEIF for the mutual benefit and joint cooperation, promoting and undertaking research, development, training and education in Islamic finance.
Both countries will be able to tap into each other’s perspectives of the industry as well as the pool of market practitioners, Shariah scholars, university professors, regulators and other service providers.
The MoU also signifies the commitment to strengthen the ties between the two countries, taking into consideration the long established relationship as members of the OIC communities.
State Bank of Pakistan aims to establish Islamic banking as a parallel banking system which is comparable and compatible to conventional banking and can become the banking of first choice in Pakistan depending on the market demand.
To cope with the increasing demand of human resources trained in Islamic banking and finance, the State Bank is taking different measures. A Task Force on Research and Development is working for suggesting measures for capacity building issues in Islamic Banking and Finance.
INCEIF was set up by Bank Negara Malaysia in March this year to serve as a catalyst in creating high calibre professionals in Islamic banking and finance to meet the requirements of the industry both domestically and internationally.
The sharing of experiences and expertise between Pakistan and Malaysia will enable both countries to work closely and collaborate to spearhead the development of Islamic finance.
The agreement to construct roads in Pakistan with the help of Asian Development Bank was signed by Maj. Gen. Farrukh Javed Chairman NHA and Dr. Dennis Ganendra Director Minconsult International Limited on behalf of respective governments to help Pakistan in construction of roads.
Under this agreement, the Malaysian firm will construct Khanozai-Zhob (N-50), Mughal Kot (N-50) and Qila Saifullah-Waigum Road (N-70) sections of Highways. The project with dollars 2.41 million will be executed with the help of loans from Asian Development Bank.