The General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (CIBAFI), a Bahrain headquartered global umbrella of Islamic financial institutions, has launched its "Certified Islamic Banker" training programme for 50 senior bankers from six Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries and Central Asia.

The professional development training programme, being held in the Regional Financial Centre of Almaty (RFCA) Academy in Kazakhstan, started yesterday (February 9) and ends on February 13, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It is organised by CIBAFI, supported by the Islamic Development Bank and hosted by the National Bank of Kazakhstan, which is aiming to develop Almaty as a regional Islamic finance hub since it welcomed Islamic finance in the country in 2009.

A boost to the initiative has been the recently approved government decree the "Road-Map on development of Islamic finance in Kazakhstan by 2020".

The objective of the training is to engage participants in discussion on the contemporary environment and the latest Islamic banking operations.

In addition, it will give participants an overview of some of the widely used contracts in Islamic banking.

"Empowered by the mandate to disseminate rules and principles of Islamic finance worldwide, we are determined to facilitate Islamic finance development in CIS countries and support Kazakhstan to develop its Islamic financial sector," said CIBAFI secretary-general Abdelilah Belatik.

The programme in Kazakhstan is one of the many professional development initiatives spearheaded by CIBAFI.

"This programme is our response to a number of visits from CIS officials during last year to our headquarters in Bahrain," Belatik said. - TradeArabia News Service