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Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank launched a sales platform that allows customers to communicate remotely with the bank and apply for personal finance products, covered cards, takaful products and other banking solutions without having to leave their homes. This platform is the first of its kind in the UAE, and it is equipped with a set of virtual banking tools, including an electronic application and electronic signature services. Since its launch, more than half of the bank’s card sales are executed via the platform remotely.

The State of Pakistan and the International Trade Finance Corporation of the Islamic Development Bank signed a financing agreement amounting to $ 386 million, to be used in importing oil and liquefied gas. The Pakistani side emphasized the importance of this agreement and its role in promoting economic and social development.
In another development, remittances from Pakistanis working in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia amounted to 665 million dollars in September this year, an increase of 29%. On the basis of a total, remittances from the Gulf countries and Western countries reached 3 and 2 billion dollars in September this year.

The global sukuk market witnessed record issuances in 2019, recording $ 162 billion, an increase of 31% over 2018. Participants of the fourth session of the virtual webinar series of the World Islamic Economic Summit discussed the Global Islamic Economy Report for 2019/2020. According to the report, the assets of Islamic finance worldwide reached $ 2.5 trillion in 2018. Sukuk constituted 4% of these assets, and in the same year the UAE ranked fourth among the top 10 markets for Islamic finance assets in the world, with a value of $ 238 billion. The webinar session focused on discussing emerging trends in the sukuk market and future outlooks for the sector. The participants agreed that the sukuk market had performed well last year, and moderator Mohiuddin Kronfol indicated that the lack of updated data contributed to complicating the process of issuing sovereign and institutional sukuk.

The value of new sukuk listings on Nasdaq Dubai since the beginning of 2020 until mid-September reached $ 11.4 billion, an increase of 55% over the value of sukuk listed in the same period last year. The total value of the sukuk listed in Dubai (between Nasdaq Dubai and the Dubai Financial Market) currently stands at $ 73.49 billion, making the emirate one of the largest sukuk listing centers in the world. The sukuk issuers on Nasdaq Dubai this year varied between Emirati and foreign countries, including Sharjah Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank, Dubai World Ports, GFH (from Bahrain), Dar Al Arkan (from Saudi Arabia), the Indonesian government, and the Islamic Development Bank.

According to S&P Global Ratings, total sukuk issuance volume for the full year 2020 will be lower than in 2019. Central banks have already taken measures to boost banks' liquidity in core Islamic finance countries, so they are unlikely to issue sukuk this year. They want banks' increased liquidity to reach corporates, thereby minimizing the risk of a long-lasting economic downturn. The difficult economic environment has led to higher financing needs for sovereigns, but most of them are turning to conventional markets due to the complexity of issuing sukuk. The number of defaults among sukuk issuers with low credit quality will likely increase, which will serve to test the robustness of legal documents for sukuk.

IsDB President Dr. Bandar Bin Hajjar stated that the bank was working on a pioneering project to establish a "Global Waqf Centre of Excellence" in Madinah, with a capital of $50 million. The aim of the center is to build a global umbrella for the Waqf sector, linking and coordinating all those interested in Waqf. The Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) is preparing to launch the first initiative of the center to grant an approved certificate of Waqf specialist. IRTI is also working on the "Ish’had" platform, which is an e-platform using blockchain technology, to document and protect Waqf properties.