Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Turkic Council to Explore Cooperation with ASEAN


Turkic Council to Explore Cooperation with ASEAN



ASEAN
Jakarta, INDONESIA
Wednesday, 25th November 2015


Link to photos.

H.E. Ramil Hasanov, Secretary-General of the Cooperation Council of Turkic Speaking States (Turkic Council) paid a courtesy call on H.E. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN yesterday at the ASEAN Secretariat.

Secretary-General Minh briefed his counterpart from the Turkic Council on the recently announced ASEAN Community at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, including the signing of ASEAN Community Vision 2025 which articulates ASEAN’s goals and aspirations to realise further consolidation, integration and stronger cohesiveness as a Community. He also highlighted the importance of ASEAN being an outward-looking and global player through enhancing dialogue and cooperation with external partners including the Turkic Council.

Meanwhile, Secretary-General Hasanov conveyed the Turkic Council’s interest in forging closer relations with ASEAN, including through Secretariat-to-Secretariat engagement and in areas such as business and investment, counter-terrorism, tourism, education and information technology, among others.  Both sides recognised the shared values and common objectives in maintaining peace in the region through regional cooperation and agreed to focus on specific areas identified through the focal points from both secretariats. 

The Turkic Council is an intergovernmental organisation established in 2009 with the aim of promoting comprehensive cooperation among Turkic Speaking States and to promote effective regional and bilateral cooperation in all areas of common interest. Its four Member States are Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey.


IFSB Announces the Second Release of Prudential and Structural Islamic Financial Indicators (PSIFIs) for 16 Member Countries




The IFSB Announces the Second Release
of Prudential and Structural Islamic Financial Indicators (PSIFIs) for 16 Member Countries


ISLAMIC FINANCE
Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA
Wednesday, 25th November 2015

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) is pleased to announce the second dissemination of its Prudential and Structural Islamic Financial Indicators (PSIFIs) from 16 member countries. The PSIFI data, which aims to provide data on the financial soundness and growth of the Islamic banking systems in participating IFSB member jurisdictions, covers the quarterly data from December 2013 to December 2014.

Secretary-General of the IFSB, Mr Jaseem Ahmed stated that “The support of multilateral organisations – such as the IMF, ADB and IDB – have greatly assisted the progress on this project. It is our aim to continue to expand the scope of the PSIFI to include the participation of new jurisdictions, as well as expansion of data to the Islamic capital market and Takaful sectors of the industry”.

The first set of data was released on 27 April 2015 covering the period as of December 2013. The second release adds the indicators for the four quarters of 2014, with necessary adjustments and revisions to the earlier data set. It thus provides more complete data than the earlier release as many member jurisdictions have improved their data collection and consolidation framework for Islamic banking industry in line with the requirements of PSIFIs project.

The Task Force on PSIFIs – which includes representatives from 16 member jurisdictions as well as international organisations such as the IMF – updated some indicators after the first release to enhance their clarity and consistency across jurisdictions. In the new release, a number of jurisdictions have also started reporting of the data on macroprudential indicators such as assets held by domestic systemically important banks, leverage ratio, as well as liquidity coverage ratio (LCR).

The countries participating in this project are: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Turkey. The IFSB is now collecting data for the first two quarters of 2015 which will be targeted for dissemination in Q1 of 2016.

“In the context of the heightened awareness of vulnerability of all financial systems to a range of risks, the PSIFI provide a new tool for monitoring the soundness and stability of Islamic finance”, said the Secretary-General of the IFSB, Mr. Jaseem Ahmed. In particular, he noted that, “The focus on core issues of capital adequacy, asset quality, liquidity and leverage will assist in evaluating consistency in the adoption of global and IFSB recent standards on risk based capital, liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) and the net stable funding ratio (NSFR)”.

The PSIFI Database (full set of data with metadata) is available on the PSIFIs portal at the IFSB website http://psifi.ifsb.org

Monday, November 23, 2015

BLESSED ARE THE THICK-SKINNED, FOR VERILY, THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH... - The ASEAN 500's 3 Heads by Notrumi

CARTOON
"3 Heads" by Notrumi
Bukit Damansara, K.L. - MALAYSIA
Monday, 23rd November 2015


BLESSED ARE THE THICK-SKINNED, 
FOR VERILY, THEY SHALL INHERIT THE EARTH... 


You may make as many puns, memes and cartoons about unpopular leaders on social networks like Facebook. 
But accept the bitter pill that you won't dethrone them that way. 
It is just to let off steam. The powers-that-be knows this. You should too.











Thursday, November 19, 2015

Shariah Scholars and Industry Stakeholders Discuss Issues on Financial Safety Nets

MIFC

Shariah Scholars and Industry Stakeholders 
Discuss Issues on Financial Safety Nets 
at the IFSB-ISRA Shariah Roundtable



ISLAMIC FINANCE
Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA 
Thursday, 19th November 2015

The Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB) and International Shariah Research Academy for Islamic Finance (ISRA) have successfully organised a Shariah Roundtable themed, ‘Financial Safety Nets: Striking a Balance between Shariah Requirements and the Soundness of the Islamic Financial System’. The Roundtable was held on 5 November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Roundtable aimed to provide a platform to Shariah scholars, legal practitioners, regulators and market players for having in-depth deliberations on key aspects of financial safety nets such as Lender of the Last Resort (LOLR) and Deposit Insurance Schemes from the Shariah perspective.

Over 70 delegates from nine jurisdictions among the IFSB members and non-member organisations – representatives from market players, regulatory bodies, and international agencies – Shariah scholars as well as academia attended this Roundtable.

Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, the Secretary-General of the IFSB, in his Opening Address, highlighted that financial safety nets feature as a key component of an integrated financial stability framework, the importance of which was highlighted during the global financial crisis. He emphasised that safety net mechanisms such as lender of last resort facilities and deposit insurance schemes should be compatible with Shariah principles. To offer these schemes in a wider set of jurisdictions, it would be important for Shariah scholars to lead the discussion along with regulators, market players and legal practitioners in order to identify the major obstacles, issues and challenges in introducing such facilities on Shariah- compliant basis. Mr Jaseem also informed the audience that Shariah scholars play a pertinent role in the work of the IFSB – their role is embedded in the due process of preparing the IFSB standards and guiding principles – where the members of the Shariah Board of the Islamic Development Bank vet thoroughly and review the IFSB draft document prior to submission to the IFSB Council for issuance. The Shariah community also has the opportunity to provide feedback during the document’s public consultation phase.

Professor Dr. Mohamad Akram Laldin, Executive Director of ISRA, in his Opening Address, highlighted the need for a more collaborative approach between the various stakeholders that would help to develop synergies and support the growth of Islamic financial services industry on a sound footing. He also stressed that Shariah is the backbone of this industry, as it is the key distinguishing factor that makes Islamic finance distinct from the conventional finance. Finally, he reiterated the importance of following the broader principles of Shariah to devise instruments for financial safety nets and other products for consumers.

The Opening Session was followed by a presentation on the IFSB’s key activities and strategic focus by Dr Sherif Ayoub, Assistant Secretary-General of the IFSB, who enlightened participants on the key role Shariah scholars play in reviewing and providing feedback on the draft prudential standards during various stages of the development process.

The session on LOLR was preceded by a presentation entitled, Strengthening the Financial Safety Net: The Role of Shariah-compliant Lender-of-Last-Resort Facilities as an Emergency Financing Mechanism by Mr. Jamshaid Anwar Chattha, Chief Financial Analyst, Financial Stability Office/Supervision Sector, Central Bank of Kuwait. Mr. Jamshaid provided an overview of the concept of financial safety nets and highlighted the operational and Shariah issues faced by central banks in the provision of an LOLR facility to Islamic banks. He also shared with the audience the experience of Central Bank of Kuwait in providing Shariah-compliant LOLR facilities.

The first session of the Roundtable, themed, Lender of Last Resort Facilities – Structuring Shariah-Compliant Instruments and Mechanisms was chaired by Professor Dr. Ashraf Md Hashim, CEO, ISRA Consultancy. The speakers for this session were two members of the ISRA Council of Scholars, Sheikh Professor Dr. Mohamed Ali Elgari, and Sheikh Dr. Oni Sahrani who presented their papers on the session theme. Sheikh Mohamed Elgari highlighted key characteristics of an effective LOLR mechanism and provided his critique on the currently practiced Shariah-compliant LOLR structures. He then proposed two modified mechanisms; the first one based on the idea of daily Mudarabah contracts, in which an Islamic bank would act as a working partner (Mudarib) and the Central Bank would act as the capital provider. The second alternative proposed by him relied on the use of modified repurchase agreements. Sheikh Sahrani elaborated on the importance of LOLR facilities for Islamic banks and overall stability of the Islamic financial system. He also proposed various alternative structures to meet the objectives of LOLR, such as financing through Mudarabah, sale with a promise of repurchase, establishing a joint fund for the purpose of liquidity management, providing interest-free loans by the central bank and the issuance of investment Sukuk.
 
The two discussants who participated in this session were Mr. Badlisyah Abdul Ghani, President of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professional (CIIF), Former CEO of CIMB Islamic, Malaysia and Professor Dr. Engku Rabiah Adawiyah Engku Ali, Professor, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). Mr. Badlisyah pointed out the importance of using the right approach when communicating the Shariah requirements to the central banks, and the need to find the best way to implement and execute the Shariah-compliant LOLR facilities in an effective manner. On the other hand, Professor Engku Rabiah commented on the proposed mechanism of daily Mudarabah contracts by highlighting some of the possible Shariah issues that could arise in relation to its implementation and observed that a Wakalah structure can also be used as an alternative in which the central bank will act as the principal and the Islamic bank will act as an agent. Moreover, she shared with the audience some Shariah issues in undertaking the repo agreements.
         
The afternoon session started with a presentation from Mr. Syed Faiq Najeeb, Member of the Secretariat, Technical & Research, IFSB, themed Strengthening the Financial Safety Net: The Role and Mechanisms of Shariah-compliant Deposit Insurance Schemes. Drawing from the IFSB survey and draft paper on this subject, he deliberated on the importance of developing deposit insurance schemes on Shariah-compliant basis, which are considered an indispensable component of financial stability regimes in the post crisis world. He also highlighted the current Shariah-compliant models of deposit insurance schemes that are being implemented in different jurisdictions and the operational and Shariah challenges that need to be considered in the implementation of these schemes.

Shariah-compliant Structures for a Deposit Insurance Scheme was the theme of the second session. The chairperson of the session was Sheikh Dr. Nizam Mohammad Salih Yaquby, a member of ISRA Council of Scholars. The speakers for this session were Sheikh Professor Dr. Ali Muhyi al-Din Ali al-Quradaghi, Research Fellow, ISRA and Associate Professor Dr. Said Bouheraoua, Senior Researcher, ISRA and Editor-in-chief, ISRA International Journal of Islamic Finance who presented the paper of Sheikh Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghuddah, a member of ISRA Council of Scholars. Sheikh al-Quradaghi gave a description of the three types of deposits which require protection – the current, saving and investment accounts. He emphasised that insuring current and saving accounts is similar to the insurance of debts. Therefore, it is permissible as long as the underlying concept being used is that of Takaful. As for the protection of investment accounts, the speaker noted that the capital of such accounts can be insured on the basis of Takaful by relying on two mechanisms. The first mechanism centers on the idea of a group of Islamic banks negotiating with the Takaful companies to receive the best possible Takaful coverage for the protection of the capital of their investment account holders. A second option is for the Islamic banks to establish a fund to cover any losses suffered by the investment account holders of any of the participating banks. Dr. Bouheraoua started by detailing the forms of Shariah-compliant capital protection schemes and proceeded to discuss in detail the key components and modalities of a Shariah-compliant deposit insurance scheme. He also touched upon some examples of Shariah-compliant deposit insurance schemes being implemented in several jurisdictions. 
Three discussants participated in this session, which included Mr. Mohd. Sobri Mansor, Senior Manager, Malaysia Deposit Insurance Corporation, Dr. Hurriyah El Islamy, Group Co-Head, Shariah & Governance, CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd and Mr. Madzlan Mohamad Hussain, Partner & Head, Islamic Financial Services Practice, Zaid Ibrahim & Co. Mr. Mohd. Sobri pointed out that the purpose of a deposit insurance scheme is to protect the depositors and promote stability of a financial system, which necessitate the availability of such schemes to Islamic banks on a Shariah-compliant basis. This will provide a level-playing field to the Islamic banks and promote the sustained growth of the Islamic banking industry. He emphasised the importance of highlighting Shariah non-compliance elements present in conventional deposit insurance, which would clarify the need for offering Shariah-compliant mechanisms of deposit insurance. He added that it is also important to assess how the design features of a Shariah-compliant deposit insurance scheme (SCDIS) can conform to the criteria of an effective deposit insurance scheme. Dr. Hurriyah focused on legal challenges in offering SCDIS in various jurisdictions. She also elaborated on the insurability of various types of deposits that need protection and how they can be protected in a Shariah-compliant manner. Finally, Mr. Madzlan noted that the deposit insurance schemes for Islamic banks must not only be Shariah-compliant, they must also be legally effective by having the legal mandate and legal authority for it to be effective. He also drew the attention of the audience to the benefits of learning from the experiences of other countries in relation to the issue of deposit insurance.
The Roundtable ended with the affirmation that continued debate and engagement among various stakeholders of the industry on the issue of establishing Shariah-compliant LOLR and deposit insurance mechanisms will support the provision of these schemes in more jurisdictions, which would contribute to the strength and resilience of the Islamic finance industry.

The IFSB and ISRA plan to jointly publish a set of proceedings (in both Arabic and English languages) on the deliberations of the Roundtable for wider dissemination to the stakeholders in 2016.  

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

ASEAN Heads of Civil Service Retreat



ASEAN Heads of Civil Service Retreat


Link to photos.



ASEAN
Cyberjaya-Selangor, MALAYSIA 
Tuesday, 17th November 2015 

The ASEAN Heads of Civil Service signed today the Putrajaya Joint Declaration on ASEAN Post-2015 Priorities Towards an ASEAN Citizen-Centric Civil Service. The Declaration embodies ASEAN’s recognition of the need for civil service reform and greater engagement of the peoples to meet their needs, welfare and expectations as a people-oriented and people-centered ASEAN Community. The Declaration also acknowledged the importance of good governance in promoting sustainable development in ASEAN.  It stipulates concrete actions to be taken by ASEAN Member States collectively and individually including strengthening good governance, integrity and cooperation in civil service, capacity building, technical cooperation, prioritising good regulatory practices (GRP) and promoting the highest standards of professionalism, efficiency, effectiveness, participatory approach, responsiveness, transparency and accountability in the civil service.

Prior to the signing ceremony, the ASEAN Heads of Civil Service Retreat was held on 17 November 2015 in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. The Retreat was officiated by H.E. Tan Sri Dr. Ali Hamsa, Chief Secretary to the Government of Malaysia and was chaired by H.E. Alicia dela-Rosa Bala, the 18th ACCSM Chair and Chairperson of the Civil Service Commission of the Philippines. The Retreat deliberated on strategies to heighten the ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters (ACCSM) in post-2015. Actions to strengthen the institutional arrangement of ACCSM were deliberated, including the adoption of new themes for the six ASEAN Resource Centres (ARCs) notably: Managing Civil Service Competency (for the ARC led by Brunei Darussalam), Public Service Delivery (Cambodia), ASEAN Pool of Experts on Civil Service (Indonesia), Strategic Collaboration through National Blue Ocean Strategy (Malaysia), ASEAN Leaders in Strategic Human Resource Programme – Building a Future-Ready Public Service (Singapore), and Supporting Public Service Reform (Viet Nam). The current themes of the other four ARCs are Civil Service Performance Management (Lao PDR), Training for Trainers for Civil Service (Myanmar), Examination and Testing (Philippines), and Leadership Development (Thailand).

The ASEAN Heads of Civil Service agreed to rebrand the ACCSM to become “ASEAN Cooperation on Civil Service Matters” to appropriately reflect the collaboration and coordination among ASEAN Member States. They also agreed to continue the ASEAN Heads of Civil Service Retreat biennially in future, and to streamline meetings under ACCSM for efficiency. Strategies to promote ASEAN awareness among civil servants and inter-sectoral cooperation on cross-cutting issues of civil service and good governance were deliberated. The ASEAN Heads of Civil Service also agreed to expand the ACCSM cooperation with ASEAN Dialogue Partners. Currently, the ACCSM is cooperating with the Plus Three Countries through joint projects in the ACCSM Plus Three Work Plan 2012-2015.

In conjunction with the Retreat, the ASEAN Civil Service Games are held from 16 to 19 November 2015 participated in by over 600 civil servants from ASEAN Member States in friendly yet competitive sports of golf, badminton, futsal, table tennis, and bowling.  Games were held in various sport centers in Klang Valley. The ASEAN Civil Service Games aimed to strengthen networking and solidarity among civil servants across the region and to build their awareness of ASEAN and sense of regionality.

As part of the week-long series of ASEAN civil service events, the ASEAN Civil Service Innovation Conference was held with the theme “Towards an ASEAN Citizen-Centric Civil Service” will be held from 18 to19 November 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Conference will provide a platform for exchange of views and information on strategies to strengthen civil service performance and quality of service delivery to the people. Jointly organised by the Public Service Department of Malaysia and the Razak School of Government, the Conference is expected to be attended by around 300 participants from the region.



Monday, November 16, 2015

ASEAN Facilitates Business in the Region



ASEAN Facilitates Business in the Region

Link to photos.

ASEAN - Business
Ho Chi Minh City, VIETNAM 
Monday, 16th November 2015

The second ASEAN Business Seminars and Business Policy Dialogues were held to promote awareness and understanding of the ASEAN Economic Community’s (AEC) key initiatives to the business community on 9-11 November in Ho Chi Minh City.

Two additional information packs covering the ASEAN Single Window (ASW) and  Establishing A Company in ASEAN Member States (AMS) were shared and validated with the private sector at this seminar. The objective was to provide information materials on these initiatives and to better explain to the private sector how such initiatives are benefiting businesses including through facilitating the movement of goods across the region.

The private sector also appreciated information on starting a business with the mapping of the registration processes in selected AMS namely, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.  The processes of starting a business were presented and participants discussed the need for the streamlining the processes as they recognised the importance of improved rules and regulations towards reduction in time and cost of doing and starting a business in the region, particularly for SMEs.

Mr. Le Manh Hung, Deputy Director-General of Agency for Enterprise Development of Viet Nam, in his opening remarks highlighted the importance of facilitating SMEs’ access to information on the AEC. He also called for similar activities to be conducted more frequently to increase ASEAN SMEs’ awareness as a step towards enhancing their participation in the AEC.

Mr. Vo Tan Thanh, Vice President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), urged the ASEAN private sector to be more proactive in exploring the information to enrich their awareness on the AEC and stated that the VCCI hopes to work with the ASEAN Secretariat and in parallel to hold various workshops and seminars to disseminate information on AEC.

It was noted that a number of SME participants still have little knowledge of ASEAN initiatives. Such lack of understanding and information may hinder them from benefiting from ASEAN integration initiatives under the AEC and the participants welcomed seminars and dialogues as well as the information packs on AEC to build awareness among the business community.

The seminar’s participants included key representatives from chambers of commerce and business associations from AMS to learn, exchange and update their understanding of ASEAN. They also discussed how these business associations could disseminate the information to their domestic networks and constituents.  The Seminar on AEC Information for Business and the ASEAN SME Policy Dialogue were co-organised by the ASEAN Secretariat and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ), with support from the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Myanmar Elections and ASEAN Summit Top November "ASEAN Today"





Myanmar Elections and ASEAN Summit Top November "ASEAN Today"

ASEAN - Media
Jakarta, INDONESIA 
Tuesday, 10th November 2015 

Results of the 8 November general election in Myanmar top this month's edition of "ASEAN Today." Besides the anticipated vote, preparation for the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur is also part of the programme. Raissa Chentami of The Indonesia Channel anchors the programme from Jakarta. She also reports on the return of a rare animal to its Indonesian roots.

This is the 47th episode in the informative and entertaining series now in its fourth year of broadcast, and can be viewed on the Internet (https://youtu.be/Swmb_mRFA5Y) as well as through ASEAN broadcasters including The Indonesia Channel and Vietnam's VOV-TV.

"ASEAN Today" is a joint production of the ASEAN Secretariat and The Indonesia Channel, supported by AirAsia.  Some materials are provided by broadcasters in member countries. Check local listings for broadcast times. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2015

TIME is RIPE for a 3rd FORCE to EMERGE!!!

POLITICAL ECONOMY - Column: " from THE fringes "
Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, MALAYSIA
Tuesday, 3rd  November 2015 


3rd Force to EMERGE ?



( WIEF - has it seen better days? )


Over dinner with an ambassador to one of the MENA countries a couple of weeks back the good ambassador stated that whatever the PM's shortcomings were one have to give credit where credit is due - PM Najib is rather impressive on the world stage. Over the 11th WIEF (World Islamic Economic Forum) Gala Dinner I had the opportunity to confirm the ambassador's statement when I was seated in between delegates from South Africa and Iran. Both delegates (especially the one from South Africa) were lavishing praises on PM Najib and comparing him to their respective numero uno back home.



( Dinner Invitation - many were offended by this! )



( MORE to FOLLOW ) 

The only party appearing credible during Malaysia's '100 days of madness' which started in late July is PAS. Despite the usurper's i.e. Parti Amanah sleek and slick membership drive, the Bersih rally proves that PAS can (or cannot) turn out the Malay Muslim numbers. On the flip side of the coin for the often called DAP-proxy called Amanah, its still early days for them as they are just starting to build up the party's machinery.

Based on a stratified random survey of voters aged 40 and above I'd conducted in October, if elections were to be held tomorrow PAS can be the kingmakers in the so-called Malay heartlands. Apparently, the silent majority are just fed up of both sides of the political BN-PH divide.

Its an open secret that the opposition is 'not aggressively'  pursuing PM Najib as they feel that they stand a better chance of winning the elections with Najib leading the BN-coalition. Herein lies the crux of the matter for the everyday Ahmad, Wong and Kumar. The silent majority feels that both political alliances have been 'screwing them' left, right and centre.