ARI@UiTM Wins Big at GIFA 2016

It was indeed a jubilant evening for all of us at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia, the venue for the Gala Dinner and awards ceremony for the Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA) 2016.  This year, the Accounting Research Institute receives one of the major awards "BEST RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT IN ISLAMIC FINANCE".  Receiving the GIFA award for three consecutive years (2014, 2015 & 2016) is by itself a record worth mentioning. It's a gift to UiTM in conjunction with the university's 60th anniversary. In 2014, ARI received the "Best Education Provider in Islamic Finance".  In 2015, ARI receives a special award "Pioneering Research in Islamic Financial Criminology".

Researchers at ARI are extremely happy with this award as it signifies an international recognition towards ARI's pursuit in driving its HICoE research agenda in Islamic Financial Criminology.  We at ARI are a strong believer of the fact that to build a strong and sustainable Islamic Finance Industry, there is a need to look at three specific aspects of the industry needs: firstly, one must continuously explore to introduce or to innovate new Islamic Finance product; secondly, there is a need to enhance the governance mechanism of the Islamic Finance sector and thirdly, it is important to mitigate possible financial leakages of the industry.

The GIFA Awards Committee considers the following four important dimensions when assessing possible nominations for its awards: (i) Innovation - those products and servic through innovative applications of Shariah principles; (ii) Quantity and Quality - the breadth and depth of product/service offerings and where applicable, performance data are taken into account when assessing the performance of the nominated institutions and individual during the award period; (iii) Cross Border - Provision of products/services that take on an international dimension outside of the established home market is also a major criterion for selection of nominations; and (iv) Promotion of the Growth of the Industry - Products/services that have established standards of best practice for the national markets and global Islamic financial service industry are also treated over and above other products.  Congratulations all ARIANs, well done.....