Minister urges more post crisis transparency

The UAE's minister of economy has said the Arab world's banking sector must strive for the highest standards of transparency and adopt strong corporate governance measures.

Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri also said that innovation would be the driving force for the development of the Islamic world during a speech at the COMSEC Ministerial Meeting held in Istanbul.

Al Mansouri urged Islamic nations to join hands "to explore promising investment opportunities".

He said the Islamic world, with a population of over 1.7 billion, contributed more than $2.2 trillion to the global GDP and was a "compelling economic bloc that can achieve more if the resources are better managed".

Al Mansouri said this could be achieved through innovation and establishing centres that drive new thinking.

"Innovation creates a big difference for each country and is essential to build a superior and talented new generation. We are aware of this powerful concept in the UAE and have planned to establish one of the best innovation centers in the region," he said.

He also underscored the need to address the food security issue that is of crucial importance to all Islamic and Arab countries.

He added: "The UAE has prioritised this issue a long time ago and is now taking concerte actions by investing in various countries such as Sudan, Cambodia, Egypt, Pakistan and India.

"We hope that other countries are also aware of the need for food security and will take steps to tackle this issue for the long term."

Al Mansouri said the Islamic world has faced the challenges of the global crisis "remarkably well".

"One of the lessons of the crisis is the need to adopt strong corporate governance measures and the highest standards of transparency. These are basic ethos of Islamic banking," he said.

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