MCIF contracted to build “halal” resort

Vice President, Abdulla Jihad has announced that Maldives Center for Islamic Finance (MCIF) has been contracted to build a “halal” resort, in a bid to start “halal” tourism in Maldives.

Jihad made the announcement in his speech as chief guest of the Maldives Islamic Banking and Finance Industry Conference which started at Bandos Maldives this Thursday morning.

Jihad said that “halal” tourism was a profitable business, and that the Maldivian government believed it was important to tap into the market.

“So as the first step, government was given MCIF an island to develop as a halal resort. Profit from this new initiative in the history of Maldivian tourism industry will be used to spend on improving the living conditions of the needy within the Maldivian society,” said the VP.

He said that all the profit from the initiative would be transferred to an independent fund set up to wipe out poverty.

He said that the 100 percent State-run MCIF was founded based on the importance of an Islamic economic system to earn money and spend money on development.

Jihad said the purpose of MCIF was to develop Islamic financing and halal industry in Maldives, and make Maldives a regional center in Islamic financing.

“We are facing multiple challenges from different fronts in developing Islamic financing and a halal industry in Maldives. There are few experts in Islamic economics in Maldives. The lack of human resources in the area, and the lack of know-how and capacity is one of the biggest challenges facing the development of this industry,” he said.

Jihad said that it had been decided MCIF and Islamic University of Maldives would collaborate together and run programs to develop professionals in the industry.

He said that MCIF was working on facilitating placements for Maldivians in a doctorate courses by a university in Malaysia, coming January.

He also announced that Islamic University will be starting diploma and degree courses in Islamic financing in January.

“MCIF has facilitated scheme through which students can obtain financial assistance through Maldives Islamic Bank. Government has given high priority to developing the halal industry as a separate industry in Maldives. As such, MCIF is working with relevant government authorities to establish a halal accreditation board,” said the VP.

Maldives Islamic Banking and Finance Industry Conference is a regional event to discuss challenges faced by the Islamic banking industry and Islamic financing industry and discuss solutions to the challenges.