(The last of a two-part series)
In recent years, Bahrain has rapidly become a leader in Islamic finance, playing host to the largest concentration of Islamic financial institutions in the Middle East.
The Central Bank of Bahrain has established a special fund to finance research, education and training in Islamic finance - the Waqf Fund.
While it is widely accepted that one of the crucial issues facing the world of Islamic finance is the lack of suitably qualified and experienced professionals, Waqf Fund, in association with the Bahrain Institute for Banking and Finance has launched the Graduate Sponsorship Programme, an initiative offering intensive education and training to create a new generation of Islamic finance experts. The first batch of Islamic finance experts have just graduated at the end of last month under the programme.
Executive director of banking supervision at the Central Bank of Bahrain, Khalid Hamad Rahman said the sponsorship programme aimed to attract the best banking and finance graduates from the University of Bahrain to enrol in a six-month course which combined academic studies and practical experience.
Among Bahrain's 150 licensed banks, more than 60 banks operate under the Islamic rules, and some 20 conventional banks also operate under the Islamic model with high ethical code in the kingdom.