HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani Qatar Sukuk Summit welcoming Remarks

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural Qatar Sukuk Summit.

The Qatar Chamber of Commerce, QCC, has always been keen to play a leading role in realising Qatars National vision 2030 which aims to achieve sustainable development and ensure a decent and dignified life for future generations.

To that end the QCC is striving to enable the private sector and cement its partnership with the public sector, so that it can play a leading role in development and contribute to economic diversification.

In 2023 the QCC, will host the Islamic Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, ICCIA,  General Assembly meeting, as we recognise the ICCIA’s role in strengthening commercial co-operation between member countries in the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC).  

The ICCIA’s initiatives underscore the importance of economic blocs in promoting investments and joint businesses between member countries, especially in view of recent world developments. 

We aim to facilitate the exchange of goods and services and revitalise trade exchange between member countries to reach a common Islamic market.

 Islamic financial products and services are a key component of this objective and our nations vision 2030. 

As such the inaugural Qatar sukuk summit will play an important role in helping us to attain our vision and realise our objectives. 

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Through providing a dedicated platform to facilitate meaningful  discourse, explore opportunities and forge business relationships, the summit provides an ideal environment to help steer the continued growth of the global Islamic finance, sukuk capital  markets and Sukuk industry. 

We look forward to welcoming you in Qatar and to your contribution to the deliberations which I am sure will help make the inaugural Qatar Sukuk Summit a great success and establish it the premier must go to annual Sukuk gathering in Qatar and the GCC region. 

Rationale:

In securing the 2022 World Cup, Qatar scored a classic hat trick and achieved a major triumph for Qatar and the Muslim Ummah! Putting football analogies aside, Qatar has immense opportunities to demonstrate its lead and excellence in other areas of importance to Muslims and non-Muslims.

One key area where Qatar can demonstrate its excellence is Islamic finance and Sukuk. The global Islamic finance sector is worth $2.7 trillion and is growing at a rapid rate of 15% to 25% per year. International Sukuk issuances surged by 36.1 % in 2021 to $252.3 billion.

During the 10th February 2020 webinar, Rashid bin Ali Al Mansoori, Board Member and Former CEO, Qatar Stock Exchange (QSE), stated Qatar is planning to be a Sukuk hub for the world. Rashid expects the Qatar Stock Exchange to introduce more Islamic products for investors.

Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) has developed a Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework. It is based on the latest International Capital Markets Association (ICMA) ‘s Green Bond Principles (GBP), Social Bond Principles (SBP), and Sustainable Bond Guidelines (SBG).

QFC’s Sustainable Sukuk and Bonds Framework integrates local requirements and features with ICMA’s globally accepted principles, creating a harmonised local financial market ecosystem based on international standards. It will promote appropriate disclosures, the flow of relevant information, reporting, and transparency and ensure that these instruments meet their objectives and minimise risks of greenwashing.

Qatar is well-positioned to seize on its potential of becoming a leading interconnected Islamic finance hub. In recent years, Qatar's Islamic financial institutions have developed solid track records, entered into international partnerships and launched leading and popular products the world over.

Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida –
Executive Officer & Board Member Qatar Financial Centre Authority
.

1st Qatar Sukuk Summit

Against the backdrop of Qatar’s Islamic finance initiatives and its desire to become the region’s Sukuk hub, it is sensible that the world’s leading and dedicated Sukuk gathering comes to Qatar.

ICG EVENTS have successfully organised the world’s leading Sukuk event since 2006, only being interrupted by the global pandemic. The London Sukuk summit takes place almost annually with the support of the Lord Mayor and the Corporation of London; HM Treasury, UK Trade & Investment and leading financial intuitions from the city; UK government, government agencies and quasi-government agencies.

Since the Sukuk summit’s establishment, most Islamic financial institutions from the GCC, South East Asia, the UK and Europe have attended this premier annual gathering. We currently have a comprehensive database and relationships with these institutions and aim to bring these relationships and experience to bear at the 1st Qatar Sukuk Summit.

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The Event

We organised the IDB’s 30th Anniversary event in London, Dubai Islamic Bank’s 30th Anniversary event in Dubai, and the Hong Kong Sukuk Summit, held with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority. We also organised numerous annual summits with and on behalf of the Islamic Financial Services Board (IFSB), including Doha, Qatar.

These collaborative events involved participation and attendance by invitation only, ensuring the calibre, participation, success of the event, and attendance of the desired audience. We intend to deploy the same approach for and with the Qatar Chamber of Commerce.

Ideally, we will hold the 1st Qatar Sukuk summit over one and half days to coincide with the World Cup’s opening ceremony on 22nd November 2022, with summit speakers and invitees invited to attend World Cup’s opening ceremony. The working theme and title – From Asian Games to World Cup! Qatar, paving the way for innovative Islamic finance products – is relevant to the World Cup.

Topics could include:

Exploring the role of Sukuk in financing sports and leisure infrastructure, not just stadiums but also roads, hotels etc.
A case study of the Sukuk structure used to finance the athlete's village when Qatar hosted the Asian Games in 2006. The Sukuk was innovative at the time and is still relevant today, which is why we incorporated it in the suggested summit title.
Qatar's islamic finance showcase - Panel discussion
Green and sustainable Sukuks
How to develop sustainable infrastructure in OIC countries
Islamic insurance and political risk etc.
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The Islamic Corporation for the Development of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC) has indicated its commitment to the summit.

Further, we chose the summit image of the Muslim girl in hijab striking a football because of the rise in popularity of Islamic Sportswear being utilised by Muslims and non-Muslims. At the gala awards dinner, held on the eve of the 1st day, we can invite a famous Muslim football player or sportsman to give a dinner keynote address and help present the awards for excellence and outstanding achievements. Each year, these are presented at the London Sukuk summit and are highly acclaimed and sought after.

These are just a few ideas we will include in the draft Sukuk summit programme, where we will also include ideas and suggestions from HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani and relevant personnel at the QCC. This will make this InshAllah a remarkable and very successful event and help establish it as the region’s ‘go to’ annual Sukuk event.

The 1st Qatar Sukuk Summit will commence on Sunday 21st November 2022 and will include:

An inaugural keynote addresses session
Three to four additional sessions covering current issues, global and regional developments
Panel discussions, including an insurers and investors panel
Case studies

A session dedicated to developments and opportunities in Qatar could be the keynote session for the morning of day two. We would include a Shariah scholars open question panel discussion to finish the summit at approximately lunchtime on day two. We include the Shariah scholar’s session in all our summits as it is very popular.

We aim to discuss with QCC the exact name/title and content of the summit sessions and which scholars to invite to the Shariah scholar’s session. The summit will then InshAllah finish with lunch and in time for all the summit speakers and invitees/participants (approx. 250 people) to attend the World cup inauguration as guests of HE Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani.

I am certain InshAllah that the 1st Qatar Sukuk summit will be extremely well attended by the Sukuk industry, firmly establishing it as the region’s annual go-to event.

However, if this proves logistically challenging to achieve, the summit can also work in the lead up to the world cup with discussion with QCC over Ramadan to finalise and InshAllah launch after Eid, which would be ideal, giving us approx. seven months before the summit. We usually work on a six months timeframe.

RESPONSIBILITIES

QATAR CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (QCC) RESPONSIBILITIES:

The 1st Qatar Sukuk summit host is expected to provide:

  • The summit venue for the duration of the event for approx. 250 people
  • Supporting invitation letter from the QCC chairman to speakers and invitees/participants
  • Complimentary invitation to summit speakers/attendees/participants to attend the world cup inauguration Monday 22ndNovember 2022
  • Supporting letter from QCC chairman to Qatari sponsoring entities encouraging support of the summit – the summit should showcase Qatar’s financial services, and at least six leading entities should be encouraged to take up a platinum sponsorship package in support of the summit
  • To host Summit Gala Dinner and awards ceremony venue scheduled to take place on the eve of the summit’s first night
  • Provide AV and stage equipment, banners, and all event printed materials; summit brochure etc., speaker translation (if required)
  • Delegate bags, corporate gifts, and lanyards (250 units of each)
  • On the ground support staff for the duration of the summit
  • Summit speakers and attendees fast track airport pick up and drop off
  • Preferential hotel rates for summit speakers and attendees/participants
  • Administrative support to ICG staff throughout the summit
  • Provide complimentary flight and accommodations for 12 select speakers/Shariah scholars (6) and key ICG personnel (up to 6)

ICG EVENTS RESPONSIBILITIES

  • Organise the 1st Qatar Sukuk summit
  • Write summit programme and select summit speakers/attendees/participants in consultation with the QCC
  • Write speaker invitation letter and attendee/participants in consolation with HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim Al Thani
  • Utilise the ICG database to identify appropriate attendees/participants
  • Develop summit theme, website and summit branding material
  • Establish direct communication between key ICG summit staff and QCC counterpart
  • Develop summit marketing campaign and execution
  • Provide 4-6 ICG staff to attend and help deliver the summit during the event days
  • Collaborate with QCC and incorporate QCC suggestions
  • Identify 6-8 Qatari platinum sponsors and provide preferential sponsorship rates
  • Develop Summit email and press release campaigns and share them with QCC
  • Provide categories and trophies to be awarded at the gala dinner awards ceremony
  • Consult with QCC to incorporate any ideas and suggestions they may have
  • Supply delegate bag suggestions with appropriate branding for QCC selection, approval and payment (250 units)
  • Provide preferential Platinum sponsorship packages for Qatari Institutions supporting the 1st Qatar Sukuk summit (min 6)

ICG EVENTS FEES

ICG organisational fee £125 000