LAHORE - The Chief Executive Officer AIBaraka Islamic Bank Mohamed Isa Al Mutaweh has said that Islamic Banking is fast gaining ground in Pakistan as it is risk-free when compared to conventional mode of banking. Mohamed Isa Al Mutaweh stated this while talking LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali here on Thursday. LCCI Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik, Tariq M Kazim Deputy General Manager Overseas Branches, Shafqaat Ahmad Country Head AlBaraka Islamic Bank, former Senior Vice Presidents of LCCI Farooq lftikhar and Sohail Lashari also spoke on the occasion. The AlBaraka top man, who came to Pakistan from Bahrain exclusively for having a meeting with LCCI office-bearers and members spent pretty good time at the LCCI explaining modus operandi of Islamic banking system. He said that over the years, the AlBaraka Bank has successfully developed and maintained its identity as one of the leading providers of a host of banking products and services in strict compliance with Shariah principles. He said that Islamic financing products such as Murabaha, Ijara, Musharaka and Islamic Export Refinance etc., are catering to a diverse cross-section of the economy including the Corporate, SME and Consumer sectors. Speaking on the occasion the LCCI President Mian Muzaffar Ali said that today more than two hundred and fifty Islamic financial institutions are operating worldwide from China to USA. Western banks through their Islamic units in UK, Germany, Switzerland, Luxembourg etc. also practice Islamic banking. He said that the basic principle of Islamic banking is the prohibition of Riba or interest, which has seldom been recognised as applicable beyond the Islamic world but many of its guiding principles have consciously or unconsciously been accepted. The majority of these principles are based on simple morality and common sense, which form the bases of many religions including Islam. The LCCI President said that Islamic finance was practiced mostly in the Muslim world throughout the Middle Ages facilitating trade and business activities. In Spain and Baltic States, Islamic merchants became indispensable middlemen for trading activities. It is claimed that European financers and businessmen later adopted many concepts, techniques and instruments of Islamic finance. He said that the Islamic financial system employs the concept of participation in the enterprise, utilising the funds at risk on a profit and loss sharing basis. This by no means implies that investments with financial institutions are necessarily speculative. This can be excluded by careful investment policy, diversification of risk and prudent management by Islamic financial institutions. The LCCI Senior Vice President Tahir Javaid Malik while paying tributes to the speakers suggested that the Islamic countries that had undergone the experience of Islamic banking should be consulted so that the existing level of services could be improved and more diversified products be introduced.