For this year’s celebration, our theme is “Sustained Partnership, Sustained Economic Growth.” We want to underscore that mutual commitment to our continuing partnership helps us sustain economic growth; growth that generates jobs and improves the lives of Filipinos. As you know, our partnership comes in various forms.
So far, Islamic financial institutions have escaped relatively unscathed from the severe downturn which is affecting most conventional financial institutions. This certainly presents the industry with an opportunity to continue its successful growth of recent decades. Because interest-based transactions are prohibited, Islamic finance encourages business and trade activities that generate fair and legitimate profit.