Malaysia, GCC states remain top Islamic finance players, says Bahraini economist

Malaysia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries remain the leaders in the Islamic finance industry, despite the emergence of new participants vying to get a piece of the pie. Bahrain Economic Development Board chief economist, Dr Jarmo Kotilaine, said an established financial industry required many component parts for its sustained development and the Islamic finance architecture was much more developed and complete in the Gulf and Malaysia than any other part of the world. Other centres can support the global growth of Islamic finance but are unlikely to challenge the established role of Southeast Asia and the Gulf, he said.