"We want Islamic financial institutions to interact with the rest of the world. We want to be able to open opportunities for under-utilised asset classes to access the liquidity from the middle east and for private wealth managers to wake up to the huge opportunities that along with being able to guide this wealth through Islamic finance structures and products"

The Middle East Business Forum is a gathering of high profile individuals and institutions with goal to conducting business and exchanging services between the Middle East and the rest of the world. A large area of focus within this context has always been Islamic financial institutions and the high net worth families and individual that power their investment and operational strategies.

To this extent, we havealways engaged with central banks, regulatory authorities and governmental steering committees within the Islamic world to give us key insights into the workings of these institutions, with a view to leading meaningful dialogues at our gatherings.

Our team members have worked with institutions including the Islamic Financial Services Board, Accounting and Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, Bahrain Monetary Agency, Insurance Commission of Jordan, Bank Negara, World Bank, General Council of Islamic Banks & Financial Institutions, Islamic Banking and Finance Institute of Malaysia, UK Trade & Investment , The Corporation of London, Muslim Council of Britain, and a host of Central Banks from the GCC region and beyond.

MEBF held the first Islamic Real Estate Finance Forum in London in 2003 and delivered the support of the Corporation of London to the gathering of Middle Eastern real estate investors and developers and investment banks. The Corporation of London strategically participated in this series to demonstrate the openness of the UK to Middle Eastern investment at a time when a great amount of disinvestment was taking place in the USA post 9-11.

Our events have taken place in UAE , Saudi Arabia , Bahrain , Qatar , Kuwait , Jordan , UK , Italy , Pakistan , Luxembourg and Malaysia . USA, Latin America, Luxembourg and France are on the agenda for our 2010 diary.

Our forums are accessed by invited guests only and as such we attract the best caliber of delegates including members of royal families, government ministers, central bank governors, CEO's and executive management of international and regional banks, insurance companies, pension funds, wealth managers and family offices.

Our notable accomplishments include the hosting of Dubai Islamic Bank's 30 th Year of Operation Ceremonies and Accolades, hosting of the Islamic Financial Services Board's Annual Summit's in Qatar, Lebanon and the UK respectively and the International Takaful Summit series which uniquely brings together the global Islamic insurance industry.

Recent forums can be accessed at:
www.middleeastbusinessforum.com/sukuk
www.middleeastbusinessforum.com/realestate
www.takafulsummit.com