Building on the success of last year’s inaugural conference, the 2^nd Annual World Islamic Infrastructure Finance Conference (WIIFC) 2007 will convene more than 250 senior executive delegates representing the international banking, finance, investment and key infrastructure sectors.

An Unparalleled Faculty of Expert International & Regional Speakers

WIIFC 2007 promises to be even bigger and better this year, assembling an unprecedented line-up of outstanding speakers from the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia to share new insights into the growth potential of Islamic project finance and the outlook for the next wave of Mega-deals.

The Next Wave of Mega-Deals

With project finance transactions reaching record highs and infrastructure development requirements assessed at more than $1 trillion over the coming decade in the Middle East region – and Qatar alone expected to consume $130 billion - demand from large-scale projects across the LNG, Oil & Gas, Petrochemicals, Power and Water sectors in particular is growing at an exciting pace. Combined with the huge boom in major real estate projects, the stage is set for meeting the challenges of financing complex projects.

Innovations in Islamic Finance

While in the past most of the financing requirements have been met by institutions on a conventional basis, increasingly the market is seeing huge growth in Islamically structured transactions. A key emerging trend will see major international financial institutions working closely with Islamic banks in order to meet the capital requirements of large-scale infrastructure projects. Whether it is a fully-fledged Islamically structured deal or a transaction in which a tranche of Islamic finance is utilised, the market is set to expand and grow significantly.