Center for Islamic Economics and Finance - IE Higher Education and King Abdulaziz University (Saudi Arabia) have signed an agreement to jointly create a Centre for Islamic Economics and Finance at IE Business School. The agreement  was signed on March 31 during the visit to IE of the Saudi Arabian Minister of Higher Education, HE Khaled Al Anqari.

Based on the principles of equality and reciprocity of benefits, the Centre’s activities will include the design and implementation of courses in the fields of Islamic economics and finance for master programs, and executive seminars on Islamic economics and finance held in Madrid and Jeddah. The Center will also foster research in specific topics in the field of Islamic finance, as well as organizing an annual symposium.

“The current financial crisis has confirmed just how global the financial world has become. The new landscape requires a joint effort to build a strong and solid financial order in which Islamic finance is set to play a key role in the near future. The Center for Islamic Economics and Finance will help executives and future executives to understand how Islamic finance works, serving as a bridge between east and west built on better mutual understanding” added, Celia de Anca, IE Business School.

The Center will build the necessary base for creating the required environment for Islamic finance, and at the same time will help  in creating the professional expertise required, said the professor Osama Sadik hayeb, president of king Abdulaziz University.

King Abdulaziz University was established in 1967 (1387 H) as a national university designed to promote higher education in the western area of Saudi Arabia. It holds a distinguished position among higher education institutions in the Kingdom, with a student body that comprises 82,152 men and women. King Abdulaziz University is considered a pioneer in offering higher education to Saudi women, with  female and male sections that were inaugurated in the same year. The minister of higher education presides over the University council, the members of which include HE the director of the University, the deputies of the University, the deans of colleges, and the independent deanships.