Dr. Fahad A. Aldossari, deputy governor for Research and International Affairs at the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA) inaugurated the third quarterly workshop on Islamic Finance for 2021, held virtually on Thursday 9, September 2021, under the title "The Role of Educational Programs in the Development of the Islamic Finance Sector in the Kingdom." A number of experts and interested persons in the Islamic finance industry participated in the workshop.

This workshop comes as part of a series of quarterly workshops focused on Islamic finance, which aim at discussing a number of topics related to Islamic finance industry. In his welcoming statement, Dr. Fahad highlighted the importance role of educational programs in the Islamic finance industry as a strategic pillar in supporting the qualitative growth of the industry through the development of educational and technical programs that suit the sector's requirements. He also noted that, according to the recently-issued Islamic Financial Services Board report, the Kingdom took the lead in terms of Islamic banking assets with a share of more than 28% of the total Islamic banking globally. In addition, he referred to SAMA's contributions in supporting educational and training programs and research and translation in Islamic finance.

The workshop consisted of four sessions. The first session, which was presented by Dr. Irum Saba, faculty member at the Institute of Administration- Pakistan , discussed topics regarding (The Global Contribution of Educational Programs to the Qualitative Development of the Islamic Finance Sector). It also presented the types of educational programs in the Islamic finance sector, and the most important experiences of some international institutions in the area of education in Islamic finance.

The second session, presented by Dr. Salah Alshalhoub, faculty member at the Saudi Electronic University, discussed (The Kingdom's Educational Programs Related to Islamic Finance), touching upon the most prominent experiences of Saudi universities in developing educational programs, lessons learned from such programs and future prospects.

The third session, presented by Dr. Omar Hafiz, faculty member at Islamic Economics Institute- King Abdulaziz University, discussed (The Kingdom's Educational Programs Related to Islamic Finance as Represented by the Experience of the 'Islamic Economics Institute'). This session delved into the Institute's experience in developing educational programs for the Islamic finance sector focusing on the academic and technical side of the student; and the efforts of the legislative authorities through the development of training programs that support competencies in the Islamic finance sector.

In the concluding session, presented by Dr. Ghayath Naqshbandi, faculty member at The American University in Washington DC, topics regarding (The Experience of the American University, Washington, D.C., in Designing Educational Programs in Islamic Finance) were addressed. Such topics involved the design and development process of such programs.