A conference too far (Editorial)

As was the case in the early 1990's, the number of Islamic banking conferences being held worldwide has been increasing significantly. Some problems arise from an excess of conferences: participants recycle presentations, organizers are out for profit more than for contributing to development in the field, and some conferences are set up as marketing tools for a specific company and/or country. As they are currently organized many of these conferences do not provide valuable debates and discussions on policy, promoting little interaction between different institutions. The conferences, and Islamic banking on the whole, are not geared towards a wider audience. Thus far, Malaysia is the only state to arrange Islamic banking awareness weeks aimed to inform a wider range of investors and customers. Conference organizers must be more committed to the growth of Islamic banking and to providing serious forums for policy discussions.