The Advantageous Of Petrodollar And Islamic Finance...

3.7. The advantageous of Petrodollar to Islamic Finance Petrodollar flows have been among the major factors supporting the growth of the Islamic finance industry ever since the 1960s GIFF (2010). The rising petrodollar flows in global markets imply continued and increasing petrodollar investments in the Islamic finance sector. This has led to a surge of interest in the Islamic Finance sector, with more and more countries positioning themselves as strategic locations to tap into part of this abundant pool of funds. For instance, a number of countries worldwide have announced their plans to issue Sukuk (Islamic bonds) and thus meet their financing needs by attracting high net worth investors (HNWIs) and wealth from the Middle East region. HNWIs are particularly on the look-out for efficient and secure jurisdictions for investing their funds, more so in the context of the present economic downturn . Operating in a facilitative business environment and reducing cost of operations are deemed instrumental factors for market players. Accordingl y, a number of jurisdictions have actively encouraged the development of their Islamic capital markets as a key strategy for attracting both HNWIs and Islamic finance businesses . In particular, it has been observed that jurisdictions from across the world are developing their Islamic capital markets by utilising the efficiency provided by Offshore Financial Centres (OFCs) to structure Shari’ah compliant products which adhere to the