Is there any potential for Islamic finance services/accounting education in Singapore ?
BC: It would be timely for the industry to gauge the demand and scope of development for accountancy services and education in Islamic finance. As a result of strong demand for Sharia-compliant financial services and structured products, the global Islamic finance industry has been growing in excess of 20 percent per annum in recent years. The growth of this new sector will generate demand for supporting services in areas such as accounting, audit, legal, IT and tax advisory. As the industry is still relatively less developed, we need to deepen the pool of people who have expertise in these fields and who understand Sharia law and its applications. Total Islamic banking assets are currently estimated at about $850 billion. Being an international financial centre in Asia, Singapore seeks to develop Islamic finance by leveraging on our existing strengths in banking, insurance, asset management and capital market services. Since 2005, the government has rolled out a series of new regulato
