College of Economics and Political science hosted an interesting panel discussion between a practitioner and an academic about the sustainability of Islamic banking. The panelists were Dr. Adnan Aziz and Dr. Zakaria Boualnauor.  Dr. Adnan is a seasoned Islamic Banking and Finance expert with extensive industry experience from Europe, Middle East, USA and Far East. ‎He is a formally trained professional in the field and currently works for Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank where he heads Wholesale Product Management Division of the Bank. Dr. Zakaria Boualnauor Assistant professor, College of Business, Umm Al Qura University, Makkah, KSA. Previously worked at Otago University and Waikato University in New Zealand.  Dr. Syed Mujahid Hussain moderated the discussion while students and faculty actively participated in the discussion.

During the discussion Dr. Adnan highlighted the fact that Oman was quite late to enter into the Islamic banking and finance industry (in 2013) but it is the fastest growing country with approximately 44% industry growth in 2016 compared to the previous year. The discussion centered on the questions like “how much Islamic banks are Islamic” and “if Islamic banking is sustainable in the future”.