On Tuesday, Jumada II 8, 1438H, the UQU President, Dr. Bakri M. Assas, and Dean of the College of Economics and Finance, Dr. Saleh A. al-Aqla, met with a delegation from the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), affiliated to the Islamic Development Bank Group, led by the head of the Institute, Prof. Azmi Omar, as well as his deputy and a number of the Bank's senior economists.

At the beginning, the UQU President welcomed the delegation, and got briefed on the results of the first coordinating meeting, that preceded this meeting, between the Dean of the College of Islamic Economics and Finance, Dr. Saleh al-Aqla, and vice deans and faculty members of the college, with the delegation. The main focus of the meeting was the joint organization by the UQU and the Bank of the 12th International Conference on Islamic Economics, to be held in UQU in March 2018.

Dr. Assas reiterated that the current global interest in Islamic economics, especially in light of the successive financial and economic crises, stands out as a testimony by the world's best economic schools that the real resolution resides in the Saudi decades-long support for and emphasis on the Islamic economics and finance. The Kingdom has taken impressive strides in this domain, most importantly hosting the Islamic Development Bank. In this spirit, Umm al-Qura University (UQU) has concerted its efforts over the past four decades on this discipline by establishing the first department of Islamic economics worldwide.

It followed that Prof. Azmi Omar delivered greetings from the Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank Group, Dr. Bandar M. Hajjar, to the UQU President. He lauded the strides taken by the University in pursuit of Islamic economics, finance and banks. This is well embodied in establishing a college specialized in this discipline, in addition to organizing scientific activities meant to enrich scientific research and Islamic economics, most importantly the 12th International Islamic Economics Conference to be held next year by UQU, as represented by the College of Islamic Economics and Finance, jointly with the Islamic Development Bank.