Professor Habib Ahmed, The Sharjah Chair in Islamic Law and Finance at Durham University UK, gave a keynote speech in a series of Policy-Oriented Research in Islamic Economics and Finance Conference (PRIME) agenda organised by the Indonesian Association of Islamic Economists (IAEI) in collaboration with the Center for Sharia Economics and Business (PEBS) Universitas Indonesia with the theme "Development of Islamic Economic Policies for a More Sustainable Post Pandemic Recovery" on 18 July 2023 at the R. Soeria Atmadja Auditorium, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Indonesia.
In his presentation, Professor Habib Ahmed explained that the goal of policy in Islam is to improve/protect maqasid al-Syariah to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with contributions from the government, private sector, and non-profit organisations. Furthermore, the professor also highlighted the differences between academic research and policy research, starting from policy research being multidisciplinary while academic institutions have a mono-disciplinary structure with a narrow focus.
"A lot of academic research is not impact-orientated, whereas it should be an important input for the formulation of appropriate policies," explained Professor Habib.
The event also received appreciation from Teguh Dartanto, Ph.D, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) Universitas Indonesia, in his speech emphasising that FEB Universitas Indonesia is also always committed to encouraging not only high quality research but also focusing more on the community impact of the high quality research.
"I believe the PRIME Conference programme can be one of the ways to realise this vision," Teguh Dartanto explained.
The Chairperson of PEBS UI, Rahmatina A. Kasri also gave the same appreciation and hoped that after the end of this conference, we can pass on knowledge, insights and transform them into meaningful actions and apply Islamic economic principles in our policies and practices.
The PRIME Conference 2023 event was closed with the announcement of the two best papers delivered by Dr Irfan Syauqi Beik as the VI Deputy Chairman of IAEI. The first selected Best Paper was Ahlidin Malikov from Westminster University, United Kingdom who discussed the growth of MSMEs in increasing productivity, creating jobs and encouraging development that is often hampered by access to finance.
The second best paper winner was Roisatun Khasanah from Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia, who discussed the Determinants of Investment Intention in Sharia Fintech P2P Lending in Indonesia. Both PRIME Conference 2023 best paper winners will receive a prize of IDR 20 million and the opportunity to publish their papers in journals affiliated with IAEI.
