Taking Stock of Islamic Finance in Dubai (Editorial)

The annual meeting of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) is being held in September 2003 in Dubai, the first time ever in the Middle East. The Islamic Financial Services Board (Malaysia) and the General Council for Islamic Banks and Financial Institutions (Bahrain) have organized meetings focusing on Islamic banking. The annual meeting is a good opportunity to promote the management and ethical principles of Islamic banking to the world. The UAE has failed to capitalize on its Islamic banking tradition and assume status as an Islamic financial center like Kuala Lumpur and Bahrain have done. The future headquarters of the Dubai International Financial Center (in construction) should help increase Dubai's status in the Islamic banking world and as an offshore banking hub, provided the DIFC can develop a deep enough market.