To reinforce the collaboration with stakeholders in promoting Islamic banking and finance, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and Asian Development Bank (ADB), in coordination with the Islamic Finance Advisory and Assurance Services (IFAAS) , conducted workshops on Islamic Microfinance and Sukuk on 13 and 14 March 2023, respectively, at the Joy Nostalg Hotel and Suites Manila, Ortigas, Pasig, Metro Manila. The workshops were attended by representatives from the BSP, the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR), and the Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), among others with learnings to provide insights and feed into the ongoing initiatives/projects and policies/regulations of the attending agencies. Mr. Tahir Ebrahim of the IFAAS facilitated the workshops.
The workshops were preceded by technical dialogue sessions by the Islamic finance expert with domestic market players and regulators on 8 and 10 March 2023, respectively, with platform to discuss the operations of an Islamic Bank and Islamic Banking unit (IBU) in the areas of profitability, resource requirement, impact of IBU to conventional banking operations, among others. Meanwhile, representatives from the BSP, Bureau of the Treasury and Bangsamoro Government brainstormed on other Islamic banking and finance initiatives and action plans during the regulators dialogue.