As the Islamic funds industry seeks to shake off a period of stagnation, leading players are developing far-sighted strategies that will get the industry back on the growth track.

However, some major challenges still remain and more than 400 leaders in the global Islamic investments industry will gather at the seventh Annual World Islamic Funds and Financial Markets Conference (WIFFMC 2011), which will be held from September 26 to 27 in Bahrain, to plot new growth horizons and forge winning business models fully in tune with the new economic realities of the Sharia-compliant investments market.

'The broader Islamic financial markets are undergoing significant change as the sukuk market receives a boost from exciting new cross-border issuances that indicate that confidence and demand are fast returning to the record levels of 2007,' said organiser Mega Events managing director David Mclean.

'In addition, recent advances in key areas such as liquidity management, the emergence of exciting new international jurisdictions to the Islamic debt space, and innovations which are creating the next generation of Islamic financial products, will provide the framework for the industry to make the leap to a truly global level - and the emergence of deep and vibrant Islamic financial markets.

'Furthermore the recently announced massive infrastructure projects and spending announced by Saudi Arabia and other Middle East markets will create further opportunities for the leading players in the Islamic finance markets,' he said.

'Despite the setback of the global economic crisis, the fundamentals of the Islamic investments industry remain strong,' he added.

'With almost $50 billion in fund assets under management and a large, expanding and untapped Muslim population, experts are predicting considerable opportunities in the future,' he added.

Being held in strategic partnership with the Central Bank of Bahrain, WIFFMC has over the past seven years firmly established itself as the world's largest gathering of Islamic investment leaders.

WIFFMC 2011 has a completely new, updated and interactive agenda, which encourages debate and active audience participation to facilitate rich substantive discussions on the issues that really matter.-TradeArabia News Service