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According to a recently released survey in the HSBC Middle East Business Confidence Index, about half of all companies operating in the Middle East with sales of at least US$100M plan to use Islamic financing within the next three years. The key factors affecting confidence among investors and institutions include political instability, market liberalization, and falling oil prices. Survey respondents were largely optimistic about the prospects for growth for Islamic finance. The business confidence index will be most effective once its track record is established.

Interview with Izham Yusoff, managing director of Amanah Raya Berhad, Kuala Lumpur.

Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, is committed to steady growth within the takaful industry. By the end of 2004

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Despite attempts to promote Islamic values, the National Commercial Bank (NCB) of Saudi Arabia continues to base its operations in riba transactions. NCB is converting its retail banking operations to comply with Islamic principles.

Islamic finance has seen its most successful development in countries that are more tolerant and secularist, with free markets and representative governments that provide the necessary space for it to develop without owning the banks. (Malaysia may be the best example of such a country). Islamic finance adheres to many of the same principles as western capitalism, including property rights and free markets, yet opposes the high levels of greed and charging of interest.

Many Muslims in the UK do not conduct banking with conventional insitutions, yet remain an untapped market for Islamic financial products. The two most common Islamic financial structures are murabaha (cost-plus finance) and

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Economic backwardness in Muslim countries is widespread despite being collectively_x000D_ very rich in terms of financial, natural, and human resources.

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