Microfinance Focus, July 15, 2011: Speaking at the recent International Seminar on Financial Inclusion for Central Asia, the Caucasus, and South Asia, Chief Executive Officer of AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking and Economics Pakistan, Zubair Mughal said that Islamic Microfinance is compatible to work with any model of Microfinance and it has the alternative to all the products of Conventional system.

Mr. Mughal further said that in the wake of the current financial crisis all around the globe, Islamic Microfinance has gained even more importance due to its transparency and sustainability. He also discussed the poverty issues of Central Asia, the Caucasus, and South Asia separately so that Islamic Microfinance becomes an effective tool for poverty alleviation in these areas.

The seminar was organized by Asian Development Bank Institute-Japan, APEC Business Advisory Council -China, & Asia-Pacific Finance and Development Center from 12th – 14th July, in Urumqi, Peoples Republic of China.

Delegate from China, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Georgia, New Zeeland, Romania, Kyrgyz, UK and Afghanistan participated in the Seminar.

Issues including Current State of Financial Inclusion Developing in Asia, Rural Finance in China, Key Regulatory Issues in Promoting Financial Inclusion, Evolution of Microfinance Institutions towards Financial Self-Sustainability through Innovation, Service Diversification and Islamic Microfinance were discussed in details.

Mr. Mughal emphasized that the people from Central Asia, the Caucasus, and South Asia can equally get benefit from Islamic principles of Microfinance. He said the out of the total population of 1.7 billion about 562 million are Muslims in these regions, which becomes important for financial inclusion through this system.