Islamic Banking Building For UBD By 2008
By James Kon

Bandar Seri Begawan - Universiti Brunei Darussalam will have its own Centre for Islamic Banking, Finance and Management Building by the end of year 2008 following the ground-breaking ceremony for the building foundation held by Universiti Brunei Darussalam's (UBD) Library, yesterday morning.

The guest of honour who officiated the laying of foundation ceremony was Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Lela Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Abdul Rahman bin Dato Setia Haji Mohamed Taib, Minister of Education and Chairman of the UBD Council. Also present were Pehin Orang Kaya Hamzah Pahlawan Dato Seri Setia Hj Awang Abdullah Bin Begawan Mudim Dato Paduka Hj Bakar, Minister of Development, Pengiran Dato Seri Setia Dr Haj i Mohammad Bin Pg Hj Abdul Rahman, Deputy Minister of Education as well as officials from Ministry of Education.

According to Francis Lau, Project Manager of LCY Development Sdn Bhd, the project costing around BND$14 million and covering 50,000 sq feet will be complete by the end of 2008.

He added some of the facilities include computer rooms, lecture hall, seminar rooms, general office, library and so on.

The idea of establishing a centre for the pursuance of Islamic banking, finance and management knowledge and practice was initially conceived by the university's late Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dato Haji Mahmud Saidon Bin Haji Othman in 2000.

After his demise, the present UBD Vice-Chancellor, Dato Paduka Dr Haji Ismail Bin Hj Duraman, continued to uphold and pursue this objective as it is believed that such an institution will be able to contribute significantly to the development of Islamic banking and finance in Brunei Darussalam and internationally. The Centre for Islamic Banking, Finance and Management (CIBFM) or 'Pusat Perbankan, Kewangan dan Pengurusan Islam', was formed in March 2006, under the aegis of the Universiti Brunei Darussalam.

To bring this project to reality, Universiti Brunei Darussalam has worked closely with various institutions.

The Ministry of Finance, together with the Islamic Development Board Jeddah and the assistance of the Public Works Department (JKR), has worked on the drafting, planning and financing of this project leading to the construction of the CIBFM building.

While the building is being constructed, CIBFM has started its operation by establishing a temporary office in the Chancellor Hall building. The mission of the centre is to have a sustained and an unflinching commitment to the development of human resources in the area of Islamic banking and financial sector of Brunei Darussalam. This is essential in order to support the nation's vision of making Brunei Darussalam an important Islamic financial hub regionally and internationally. In this respect, the centre is working closely with the Brunei International Financial Centre of Ministry of Finance, in formulating training courses for upgrading the financial skills and knowledge of financial practitioners of Brunei Darussalam.

In order to expand its international presence, the centre is in the process of forming core partners with other renowned Islamic banking and finance institutions as well as other conventional institutions.

The centre has put many of its plans into progress. It is in the process of developing its website and has compiled a Training Directory for the purpose of offering prime training courses to the local banking and business industry as well as internationally. Its training programme is allembracing, covering practically all issues pertaining to Islamic banking and finance.

The centre started its minor programme in Islamic banking and finance in 2001, and has expanded the scope to include the Master of Islamic Banking and Finance programme in 2006.

A conference themed "First International Conference on Inclusive Islamic Financial Sector Development: Enhancing Islamic Financial Services for Micro and Medium Sized Enterprises (MME)", in collaboration with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of Islamic Development Bank, Jeddah will take place in April 2007.

The centre looks forward to the completion of the CIBFM building in 2008 and to giving it prominence so that it is able to serve the general public of Brunei Darussalam and globally.

Staffs of UBD have expressed their heartfelt gratitude to His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam for his continuous support in ensuring the pursuance of Islamic knowledge be applied by the people of Brunei Darussalam. The nation will hopefully be a leader and a role model for the progress of Islamic banking and finance globally for others to emulate. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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