The awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the 5th Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum. Bursa Malaysia's Global Head of Islamic Markets Raja Teh Maimunah received the award from the Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop at the KLIFF Dinner & Award Presentation Ceremony held on 3 November 2009 in Kuala Lumpur.
Dato' Yusli Mohamed Yusoff, Chief Executive Officer of Bursa Malaysia commented, "It is a great honour for Bursa Suq Al-Sila' to be recognised by KLIFF and the judging committee which comprises experts in the Islamic finance industry. This truly stamps the recognition and support given to the Shari'ah commodity trading platform by the domestic and international Islamic financial community. This award motivates Bursa Malaysia to further enhance the platform capabilities and develop more globally-recognised products and infrastructures which will contribute significantly towards the progress of Islamic finance as a whole."
Commenting on Bursa Suq Al-Sila's latest development, Dato' Yusli said, "The recent cross-border transactions in the international markets demonstrated the platform's viability to facilitate financing and liquidity management of global Islamic financial institutions. We hope this achievement will enhance Malaysia's position as a forerunner in Islamic finance in many facets, one of it being product innovation and to further promote Malaysia as an Islamic finance hub in line with the aspirations of the Malaysia International Islamic Financial Centre (MIFC) initiative."
The annual KLIFF Islamic Finance Awards honour and appreciate efforts of institutions and organisations that have contributed significantly to develop the Islamic finance industry. KLIFF 2009 aims to serve as an avenue for parties to jointly participate in exploring and unlocking the potential of the industry as well as discussing the mechanisms and ways to confront the challenges waiting ahead.
Bursa Suq Al-Sila' is an international commodity trading platform that is designed to facilitate commodity-based Islamic financing and investment transactions under the Shari'ah principles of Murabahah, Tawarruq and Musawwamah. The platform is the first initiative of its kind in the world encompassing a hybrid market providing participants a choice between participating in the exchange through the traditional voice broking system or the faster automated electronic exchange system which is web-based. In the initial stage, crude palm oil is used as the launch commodity and this will expand to other Shari'ah approved commodities such as tin, coal and aluminium in the near future.