DUSHANBE, November 21, 2013, Asia-Plus — Head of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) Abdujabbor Shirinov yesterday met here with a Qatari delegation, led by Faisal Bin Saud Al Thani, Director of the Department for Development, Qatar Investment Authority.
According to the NBT press center, the sides discussed issues related to establishment of cooperation and attraction of investments for development of Tajikistan’s economy.
Tajik central bank head reportedly informed Qatari guests about macroeconomic indices and achievements of Tajikistan’s banking sector. He stressed that preparation work on introduction of Islamic banking was under way.
The draft law on Islamic banking has already been ready and specialists are currently studying it, the NBT press center said.
For his part, Faisal Bin Saud Al Thani said that his country was interested in establishment of an efficient cooperation with Tajikistan in banking sector.
The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is Qatar”s sovereign wealth fund, specializing in domestic and foreign investment. It was founded in 2005 to manage the oil and natural gas surpluses by the Government of Qatar. As a result of its stated strategy to minimize risk from Qatar”s reliance on energy prices, the fund predominantly invests in international markets (United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific) and within Qatar outside the energy sector. Prior to establishment of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) in 2005, Qatar’s Ministry of Finance had a small in-house team to invest revenue from budget surpluses. The QIA wholly controls Qatari Diar, a property investment company.
Islamic banking is a banking activity that is consistent with the principles of Sharia and its practical application through the development of Islamic economics. Sharia prohibits the fixed or floating payment or acceptance of specific interest or fees (known as riba, or usury) for loans of money. Investing in businesses that provide goods or services considered contrary to Islamic principles is also haraam (“sinful and prohibited”). Although these principles have been applied in varying degrees by historical Islamic economies due to lack of Islamic practice, only in the late 20th century were a number of Islamic banks formed to apply these principles to private or semi-private commercial institutions within the Muslim community.
Islamic banking has the same purpose as conventional banking: to make money for the banking institute by lending out capital. But that is not the sole purpose either. Adherence to Islamic law and ensuring fair play is also at the core of Islamic banking. Because Islam forbids simply lending out money at interest, Islamic rules on transactions (known as Fiqh al-Muamalat) have been created to prevent it. The basic principle of Islamic banking is based on risk-sharing which is a component of trade rather than risk-transfer which is seen in conventional banking.
