Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre, DIEDC, has held a board meeting to review a series of initiatives to be implemented in the near future within the framework of 2017-2021 DIEDC’s strategy, that seeks to realise the 'Dubai: Capital of Islamic Economy' vision.

At the meeting, chaired by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, Minister of Economy and Chairman of DIEDC, board members also approved in principle several initiatives that would significantly contribute to achieving the centre’s strategic objectives, including the establishment of a global Fiqh league and a global education platform dedicated to strengthening the Islamic economy sectors.

In his Chairman’s Address, Al Mansouri said, "DIEDC continues to design and launch crucial initiatives to enable the growing Islamic economy to meet the surging demand for its products and services within the local and international markets."

He confirmed that the global Fiqh league, to be established in collaboration with the centre’s strategic partners, will be the first international, legally independent non-profit scientific body of its kind in the world. Set to complement the role of the Higher Sharia Board for Islamic Banking and Finance, the league will comprise a group of Islamic scholars specialised in financial jurisprudence, carefully chosen based on universally applicable financial standards to run the league with the assistance of research centres and related organisations.

As part of its strategic objectives, the new entity will encourage global economic sectors to support the Islamic economy, help expand its footprint in local and international markets, and manage Islamic economic knowledge. Through such efforts, the global Fiqh league is anticipated to help establish Dubai as the capital of Islamic economy.

Under a separate initiative, DIEDC will collaborate with the Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University to establish an educational platform for Islamic economy that aims to strengthen the Islamic knowledge sector with relevant research and studies and upskill human resources employed within the Islamic economy. The platform will serve as a unified global reference source on the principles and ethics of Islamic economy, and allow educational institutions that teach Islamic economy to connect and exchange information on their programmes and best scientific practices.