Bringing together leaders from Islamic & responsible finance to build bridges and expand impact
Leaders in responsible finance and Islamic finance hold a key responsibility to expand their business outside the traditional bounds of their existing markets. The Responsible Finance & Investment Summit, to be held on 3 and 4 May 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland, will bring together key stakeholders from within responsible finance to build connections that can open up growth opportunities and help translate their actions towards more measurable impact.
The event will provide an opportunity for senior executives involved in responsible finance to discuss current and future opportunities in responsible finance, as well as how Islamic finance fits into the overall market. The summit promotes discussions between a diverse set of responsible finance practitioners, regulators and will develop opportunities for convergence & collaboration between developed & emerging markets, banking & investment firms, and responsible investment & Islamic finance.
Blake Goud, CEO of the Responsible Finance & Investment (RFI) Foundation, commented: “We are excited to announce this Summit for next year with the Swiss Arab Network. In our research and through engagement with many leaders across the industry, we have identified a need to explore in detail how different sectors within responsible finance work together around similar values. In particular, there is a significant need to highlight the role for Islamic finance within broader responsible finance market.”
Mr. Goud continued: “The Responsible Finance & Investment Summit will build upon our inaugural event hosted by Bank Negara Malaysia, which brought together about 450 people from across responsible finance, including Islamic finance. We found a strong appetite from participants to find common ground in responsible finance. People working in the financial sector and society at large expect finance to align with their values and in most cases, these values are widely held and often universal.”
Mounir Khouzami, Co-Founder and President of the Swiss Arab Network (SAN) highlighted: “After the first ever Islamic finance forum in Switzerland held in Zurich on 4th May 2016 with 110 people from 15 countries, we are pleased to announce the joint summit with the RFI Foundation on responsible finance.”
Slim Habli, Co-Founder and Vice-President of SAN added: “Our work building bridges between Europe and the Arab World can be enhanced by supporting connections in the financial sector. The responsible investment and Islamic finance industries, being based on a similar set of ethical values, provides an important area for collaboration.” Finally, Biagio Zoccolillo, Executive Director Zurich and Advisor to the Board of SAN pointed out: “Since we started some weeks ago to approach and engage with local and international institutions, we get very positive feedback and realize a strong appetite to partner with us for the summit.”
The organizers of the Summit would like to thank all those who have committed so far to supporting the event, including confirmed sponsorship from Bahrain Economic Development Board, DDCAP Ltd, Eiger Trading Advisors Ltd, Millenium Associates AG and Saudia.
