For once, I have had a less busy month for travel, with only one excursion to the GCC. Once again, I have seen considerable interest in acquisition and investment in Southeast Asia, as well as a growing fascination with developments in China. From my perspective, the GCC buyers and investors are becoming increasingly savvy, are undertaking very thorough due diligence and are looking for realistic prices in prevailing market conditions.

Let me turn once again to one of my favorite topics education and financial literacy in Islamic finance. During the past month I attended, like many, the intellectual discourse series organized by Inceif (International Center for Education in Islamic Finance). As usual, a good speaker, as well as a thought-provoking topic, “Post-Crisis Scenarios for the Islamic Finance Industry.”

Combine this with a number of meetings and calls during the month with representatives of government in China and the US, and my thoughts started focusing once again on the need for basic education, not only in Islamic finance but also in financial literacy. In my experience, getting a grasp of the real value proposition of Islamic finance does demand a certain basic grounding in the ways of the financial world.

For years, the most frequently asked question I was asked has been: “Do I have to be a Muslim to participate” The answer has, of course, been: “No, Islamic finance is for everyone.” For about 15 years I have given this answer. Then, about three years ago, the reason why I was being asked this question dawned on me. All of the questioners were non-Muslims and they were, in the main, anticipating an opposite answer: “Yes, it is just for Muslims”.

This would then let them off the hook as they did not want to demonstrate their lack of understanding of the conventional finance system. My humble response to this challenge has been a primer on Islamic finance entitled “Islamic Finance: Why it makes sense”, which also gives some grounding in basic finance.

Back, however, to the Americans and the Chinese. The former is again making an effort to understand what they may be missing in Islamic finance, and the latter is starting to grapple with the concept that Islamic finance may actually be good for business. In order to further the cause, I have expounded a view that in order to increase understanding of the subject, there needs to be a profound change in the way in which children are educated in the choices before them in managing their finances.

Over the last couple of years, in Malaysia, I have become involved in programs of financial literacy for children from the age of 5. The results have been very encouraging, in that these children are now aware of how things work in financial markets, and are also aware of the responsibilities and choices that they have in respect of financial decisions that they may have to take in the adult stages of their lives. And this includes Islamic finance. An interesting by-product of this process is that some of the mysteries and misperceptions about Islam have also been eroded.

Whilst the high level further education regarding Islamic economics, product structuring, Shariah sources and the like still needs to be done in order to provide the right caliber of people to run our industry now, we also need to ensure that we have the future students and consumers primed so as to take advantage of and develop the market for generations to come. If, by the way, we can also eradicate many of the common misperceptions about Islam, then so much the better.

The American and Chinese delegations, I believe, had their heads turned, as I think they expected me to talk more about the mechanics of setting up an Islamic financial institution. Food for thought!

As usual, there is much to do and not a moment to lose.