Further Real Estate Finance Activity in the GCC, New MBA in Islamic Finance in the U.K.

Gulf Finance House launches stand-alone real estate company

Following similar announcements from Al Salam Bank Bahrain and Deyaar, the subsidiary of Dubai Islamic Bank (DIB), Gulf Finance House announced today that they plan to increase their infrastructure and real estate development division. The real estate markets have significantly grown since 2002. Real estate investment funds in the Gulf Cooperation Council grew from $42 million in 2002 to $2 billion in 2004 and have continued to grow since then. Similarly large growth has occurred across the real estate industry and provides the impetus for banks to finance further real estate development.

Cass Business School to offer Executive MBA Courses in Islamic Finance

The courses, offered at Cass Business School in London in collaboration with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), will begin in September 2007. The press release from Cass Business School includes a quote from Dr. Omar bin Sulaiman, "The boom witnessed in the region [for Islamic finance] has opened the doors to hundreds of thousands of jobs, and there is a dearth of qualified professionals in the financial sector. As reforms accelerate further within the Islamic finance sector, there will be a requirement for talents at a level and scale never seen before." The courses follow an article last November in the Financial Times about the possibility of an Islamic Finance MBA as well as a widely-reported shortage of skilled employees to staff the continued growth of the Islamic financial industry. That article ended with the quote from a senior executive at a Middle Eastern Islamic bank, "Shariah scholars may have knowledge of religion but they don't necessarily know the marketplace. As the demand grows for Islamic money and the scale of this business grows rapidly, MBAs who understand the conceptual basis may be far more successful than just plain MBAs."