Keynote speech delivered by Engr. Adeeb Yousuf Al Aama, Chief Executive Officer, International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), during the 20th IsDB Global Forum on Islamic Finance, in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 17 June 2026
It is both an honour and a privilege to address you today at the 20th IsDB Global Forum on Islamic Finance, held in conjunction with the 2026 IsDB Group Annual Meetings here in Baku, Azerbaijan.
On behalf of the IsDB Group, allow me to extend our sincere welcome to our honored guests at this important Forum, which, for the past two decades, has served as a leading platform for advancing dialogue, collaboration, and innovation in Islamic finance.
This year’s theme, “Achieving Sustainable Prosperity through Islamic Finance”, could not be more timely.
Across many parts of the world, particularly in several of our member countries, we continue to witness increasingly complex development challenges: economic fragmentation, vulnerability to external shocks, food and energy insecurity, rising debt pressures, and persistent development traps that constrain inclusive and sustainable growth.
Against this backdrop, Islamic finance must not be viewed merely as an alternative set of financial contracts, nor as a niche segment of the global financial industry. Rather, it represents a values-driven development paradigm – one that seeks to reconnect finance with the real economy, productive activity, shared prosperity, and social wellbeing. Its principles are rooted in fairness, risk-sharing, asset-backing, ethical investment, and social solidarity. These principles are not only relevant to Islamic finance. They also speak to the wider global development agenda and to our shared responsibility to build more inclusive economies.
Indeed, this broader developmental orientation resonates strongly with the IsDB Group’s new 10-Year Strategic Framework 2026–2035, which is anchored on the vision of “Originality and Solidarity for Intergenerational Prosperity.”
The Framework reaffirms that development cannot be reduced merely to financial growth or capital accumulation. Shared prosperity ultimately depends on strengthening productivity, human dignity, and inclusive participation in economic opportunity. It also emphasizes the importance of nationally driven development solutions, South-South cooperation, and development models rooted in the ethical foundations of Islamic economics and finance.
From the perspective of the IsDB Group, therefore, the role of Islamic finance extends far beyond financial intermediation.
It is fundamentally about enabling resilience, strengthening regional integration, mobilizing long-term development financing, and advancing more inclusive and equitable economic systems.
At the International Islamic Trade Finance Corporation (ITFC), we see this very clearly through the lens of trade and development. Trade remains one of the most powerful drivers of economic transformation, job creation, food security, and regional connectivity. Yet the expansion of wealth-creating trade requires financial ecosystems that are stable, inclusive, and development oriented.
This is precisely where Islamic finance offers immense strategic relevance. Its foundational principles provide powerful instruments for supporting SMEs, investing in infrastructure, financing productive sectors, efficient supply chains, and cross-border trade and economic cooperation.
As we look ahead, the future of Islamic finance will ultimately depend not only on its commercial expansion, but also on its ability to remain authentic to its developmental purpose.
The central question before us is not simply how Islamic finance can grow, but rather, how can Islamic finance contribute meaningfully toward overcoming development traps and creating shared prosperity for future generations?
Addressing this challenge requires stronger partnerships, deeper collaboration, and collective action across governments, multilateral institutions, regulators, financial institutions, research community, and the private sector.
On behalf of the IsDB Group, allow me to reaffirm our continued commitment to supporting member countries in advancing authentic, inclusive, and development-driven Islamic financial ecosystems.
Thank you very much.
Wa al-salāmu ʿalaykum wa raḥmatullāhi wa barakātuh.
