Dearth of professionals limiting Islamic financing’s growth

The industry is short of 30,000 people.

Islamic finance consistent with sharia law is poised for higher growth but the industry has first to overcome a huge shortage of skilled professionals.

In Indonesia, the acceleration of the Islamic financial industry has led to a human resources supply gap of more than 30,000 people.

"The fast growth of Islamic financial institutions so far isn't followed by sufficient supply of human resources," said Halim Alamsyah, deputy governor of Bank Indonesia, the central bank.

He said Islamic finance expanded from US$137 billion in total assets in 1996 to US$895 billion in 2010. The amount is forecast to reach US$5 trillion by 2015.

Islamic finance also needs to create a wider diversity of products, develop a reliable Islamic finance database and facilitate consistency in the interpretation of sharia and the resolution of disputes.