Another area important for Islamic finance is the investment in research and development (R&D). The promotion of international strategic alliances through smart partnerships can create greater synergy that will bring about new approaches, new technologies and new areas of specialization. Such collaborative efforts amongst Islamic financial institutions would strengthen the ability to leverage on the industry's expertise. The introduction of innovative Islamic financial products in a specific jurisdictions can be expanded to other jurisdictions, which in turn, will contribute to broaden and deepen Islamic financial markets and thus strengthen the overall development of the Islamic financial industry. In addition, collaboration between academic researchers and the practitioners will enable the practical application of such research findings. In the area of education and training in Islamic finance, there is now a critical shortage of talent in the Islamic financial industry. Collaboration between training institutions is vital to developing the pool of expertise in Islamic finance that subscribes to common standards. Establishing a network of mutual co-operation and collaboration would strengthen the efforts among the institutions of higher learning across regions in the areas of curriculum development, research, training, exchange of ideas and information, and resources in Islamic finance. Such partnerships in connecting the knowledge communities between regions would facilitate this process. In the area of Shariah, the progressive convergence of Shariah views and rulings, the mutual recognition of financial standards and products across jurisdictions would be major driver towards greater international financial integration.
18.05.2022  Welcoming remarks Pathways to Gender Equality in Central Banks Margarita Delgado Deputy Governor  Dear ladies and gentlemen, I feel very honored to participate in the opening of this conference co-organized with the International Economic Association, Banco de la República and Banco de España. The development of initiatives, such as this one that gives visibility to issues related to gender diversity, are key to finding solutions to the waste of talent that involves not taking this diversity into account, consequently putting economic growth at risk and depriving economies of opportunities to develop. Ensuring diversity and, in particular, gender balance, must be a priority in our organizations and, with this commitment, we work at the Banco de España, where we have made significant progress in recent years. By the end of 2021, 51% of our total staff were females, and it is noteworthy that, in one decade (since 2012), that proportion has increased in nearly 10 percentage points. More than 4 years ago, in April 2018, Banco de España joined Bank Al Maghrib, the central bank of Morocco, to organize the first international meeting between international central banks with the aim of studying and fostering female leadership in central banks.