CEIF IMSciences 4.43

The State bank of Pakistan (SBP) is managing Financial Innovation Challenge Fund (FICF) under the UK-aid funded Financial Inclusion Program (FIP). The main aim of FICF is to help financial sector, in reaching new market segments, lower cost of delivery, enables processes and procedures to be more efficient and provision of new ways to meet the unmet demands of financial services.

For this purpose, SBP has established three Centres for Excellence in Islamic Finance (CEIF) in the best business schools of the country. One CEIF is established at the Institute of Management Sciences (IMSciences). Peshawar. Two other Centres have been established in Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Karachi and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS). The main aim of these Centres is to promote Islamic finance through the following ways:

• Arranging standard professional trainings leading toa certifications in Islamic finance for practitioners working in Islamic banks and takaful companies.
• Arranging awareness programs for businessmen, traders, companies and students etc.
• Developing undergraduate, graduate, and PhD programs in Islamic finance
• Offering certificate and diploma programs in Islamic finance in collaboration with Islamic banks and takaful companies.
• Research in Islamic Finance through arranging international conferences, publication of research articles and publishing books.
• Development and maintenance of data hub which will contain data of the Islamic financial institutions, latest research, content of training and degree programs.