On October 8^th, 2019, the IsDB RHI participated in the International Conference on Islamic Epistemology (ICIE) which was organized by the University of Al Azhar, Indonesia. The Conference focused on Islamic Finance and Financial Technology (FinTech) and was attended by participants from the education, finance, government and also the Diplomatic corps.

The Conference also highlighted that Indonesia has the capability to be a major player in FinTech. Indonesia with its population of over 250 million people, and 143.2 million internet penetration has a banked population around 48.9% and only 17.2 % borrowed from financial institutions. This could be seen as an opportunity for FinTech to increase inclusivity on financing management. Due to new developments of financial technology and its impact on financial regulations the question has been raised on, what is the impact of this FinTech development towards humanity and what is its legal standpoint from Sharia financial law perspective and national financial regulation?

The IsDB RHI was represented by the Head of RHI who delivered a keynote speech entitled “Role of Islamic Finance in a Fast Changing World”. During this keynote, IsDB’s achievements, decentralization, and rebranding were also presented in order to share with participants that along with the changing times and challenges, IsDB is able to shift from being a development bank to a bank of developers, that leverages on Science Technology and Innovation, to benefit its Member Countries.