Looking around, I am delighted to see many friends from corporates, banks, fund management firms and other industry professionals sitting here, keen to learn more about sukuk. I am sure that the experts gathered here today will be able to shed light on how sukuk can be a viable fund-raising tool and an attractive investment instrument. Before that, allow me to take this opportunity to say a few words, from a policy perspective, on why developing an Islamic finance platform is important for Hong Kong, and our plans in building this platform. What’s in it for Hong Kong to develop Islamic finance? 4. Islamic finance has become increasingly important in the global financial market, registering exponential growth over the past few years. Compared with a size of only $ billion in 2008, the global Islamic financial industry has expanded remarkably to an estimated $ trillion by the end of 2013, representing an annual average growth rate of 21%.1 According to market estimates, there is huge potential for further growth, with Islamic financial assets expected to reach $ trillion by 2020.2  5. A major growth area for Islamic finance is the sukuk market. Ten years ago, new sukuk issuance was only a modest $ billion. In just ten years’ time, annual sukuk issuance has already surpassed $ billion, amounting to $ billion in 2013 which was more than 20 times higher than the figure in 2003.3  6.
Peter Pang: Sukuk as a viable fund-raising and investment instrument Opening remarks by Mr Peter Pang, Deputy Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, at the HKMA-BNM Joint Conference on Islamic Finance, Hong Kong, 14 April 2014. *  *  *  Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim, distinguished speakers and guests, ladies and gentlemen, 1. Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this Islamic finance conference jointly organised by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), with the support of the Treasury Markets Association. I am particularly grateful to Dato’ Muhammad Ibrahim, Deputy Governor of BNM, who leads a delegation of Islamic finance experts from Malaysia to share with us their experience and knowledge on a wide range of matters concerning sukuk, from the latest developments of the global sukuk market to the practical issues in structuring sukuk products. 2. This conference marks the third Islamic finance-related event organised in collaboration with BNM within the past year or so, following an Islamic finance workshop held in March last year and the first meeting of the Joint Forum on Islamic Finance between Hong Kong and Malaysia held last December. This series of events is a testament to our determination to deepen co-operation with Malaysia in the development of Islamic finance. 3. The theme of today’s conference is “Sukuk as a viable fund-raising and investment instrument”.