Pakistan has strong potential to increase its share of the global Islamic economy by developing new Shariah-compliant financial products, improving regulations and building specialized expertise, according to Secretary General of the Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development (ICCD) Yousef Hassan Khalawi.
Speaking at the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) Talk Series on Islamic finance, Khalawi said Pakistan has several advantages, including a large Muslim population, a sizeable overseas community, a growing Islamic finance industry and a strong pool of financial professionals.
He said Pakistan now needs to move beyond traditional Islamic finance and develop products that can serve both local and international markets, particularly in areas such as fintech.
Khalawi also stressed that Islamic finance should contribute to broader economic and social development rather than focus only on financial transactions.
He pointed to Waqf-based investment structures as one potential area, saying professionally managed and transparent listed Waqf models could pool even small contributions from individuals to finance projects in education, healthcare and infrastructure.
Agriculture was another area he identified as having significant potential. Khalawi called for specialized Shariah-compliant financing instruments and greater expertise to help unlock funding for the sector.
The discussion also covered Qard Hassan, or interest-free lending, with fintech identified as a potential tool to make such financing easier to access and cheaper to deliver.
Khalawi said the development of common Shariah standards and stronger professional training remains essential for the industry.
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