efforts to review the global financial system and commence taking reforming measures to perform its role effectively and positively in the global economic activity and international external trade. g20 has set a comprehensive work program to enhance the global financial system, including the establishment of the financial stability board ( fsb ) in april 2009, attaining significant progress in the regulatory area and capital adequacy standards, liquidity risk management, compensation rules for senior executives in the financial sector, and transparency in registering hedge funds and rating agencies. hopefully, the application of these standards would enhance significantly the financial positions of global institutions in the coming years. with this background, the saudi economy has not been affected considerably by the global financial crisis due to conservative and prudent oversight and control policies followed since a long time. for instance, attention is paid to capital adequacy ratios and loan provisions for countercyclicalities. custodian of the two holy mosques, under your ongoing patronage and follow - up, the supreme economic counsel continued achieving many developmental steps aiming at reconstructing and organizing the economy and updating laws and legislation in order to promote the level of the economy ’ s efficiency and competitiveness, support the optimum utilization of production factors, and provide sophisticated regulatory and administrative frameworks and an attractive environment to domestic and foreign investments. as a result of these efforts, the economic performance has improved greatly over the recent years. this has been highlighted by the growth of the private sector ’ s real gdp by an annual average of 5. 1 percent during the last five years and the increase in non - oil exports by an average of 14. 6 percent during the same period. moreover, the investment environment in saudi arabia has improved, and the kingdom has obtained the eighth rank at the global level for attracting foreign direct investment ( fdi ), according to the unctad ’ s report. on the other hand, saudi arabia has recently been lauded by fatfs ’ s report issued at the end of last june for its commitment to the nine special recommendations related to terrorism financing combined with the forty recommendations on anti - money laundering. as a result, saudi arabia occupies the first rank at the arab level, and one of the g - 20 ’ s top ten positions. the tribute paid to the kingdom is as an appreciation by the international community of the saudi efforts in combating the crimes of money laundering and financing of terrorism, and it highlights the soundness of the saudi stance stemming from its adherence to the tolerant shari ’

hamad al - sayari : islamic banking prudential standards speech by his excellency hamad al - sayari, governor of the saudi arabian monetary agency, to the “ symposium on islamic banking prudential standards ”, institute of banking, riyadh, 15 january 2007. * * * ladies and gentlemen, it gives me a great pleasure to address this honorable and distinguished attendance at this important symposium on “ islamic banking prudential standards ” organized by the institute of banking ( iob ) in cooperation with the islamic financial services board ( ifsb ). the issue of shari ’ a ( islamic law ) compliant banking is increasingly drawing attention of those concerned with financial stability, including international financial institutions such as the imf, world bank ( wb ), development banks, basel committee on banking supervision as well as supervisory authorities in the countries where islamic banks operate. this is the result of rapid growth in the volume and scope of islamic services offered in many countries. those entities have shown a great interest in the growth and expansion of finance business compliant with the principle of avoiding interest and its impact and implications with respect to world markets and the global economic system. currently, shari ’ a compliant banking transactions have spread in most countries of the world through banks that totally comply with shari ’ a or through shari ’ a compliant windows offering all services, investment and commercial activities, leasing, investment funds and joint liability products. the kingdom has been a forerunner country in supporting and encouraging saudi banks to offer such products required by the saudi market. all saudi banks now provide a range of products that are compliant with shari ’ a requirements and with financial engineering specifications of the highest levels under the supervision of well - reputed shari ’ a committees and top class financial professionals. in the context of supporting such efforts, sama ’ s iob has offered many programs, courses and symposia in the area of developing, marketing and supervising shari ’ a compliant products. the number of bankers benefiting from those programs stood at 6, 300 who participated in 374 programs during the last seven years. these endeavors have considerably helped in developing islamic banking in saudi arabia without undermining compliance with islamic shari ’ a or the technical flexibility needed by an emerging and dynamic market. dear audience, it is very important to mention that the industry of islamic financial services should be completely integrated into the global financial markets while maintaining at the same time its distinguished nature and unique services. the industry should also be