1. On behalf of the organising committee for KLIFF 2021, I have  great pleasure to welcome all the digitally registered  participants to 16th series of Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance  Virtual Forum or KLIFF.  
   
   
2. The 16th KLIFF is being held under the patronage of His Royal  Highness Sultan Nazrin Muizzuddin Shah Ibni Almarhum Sultan  Azlan Muhibbuddin Shah Al-Maghfur-Lah, the Sultan of Perak  Darul Ridzuan and the Royal Patron for Malaysia’s Islamic  Finance Initiative. 
   
   
3. It is by the grace of Allah the Almighty that we are able to  organise another instalment of KLIFF this year amidst  challenging situations and conditions the world over due to the  pandemic Covid 19. Different from the previous 15 KLIFF events since 2004, the 16th KLIFF 2021 will be brought to you via a digital  platform.
   

1. I am grateful to Allah s.w.t for this great opportunity to address you  at the 16th instalment of the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum  or KLIFF (KLIFF 2021). I would like to thank the organisers, namely Centre for Research and Training (CERT) in association with  Amanie Advisors, Association of Islamic Banking Institutions  Malaysia (AIBIM), Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic  Finance (ASAS), and Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir (HSK) for their  effort in organising this forum, which, being the 16th in the series,  has definitely become a prestigious event in the global Islamic  finance space.
    
2. The widespread multi-sectoral crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic  has been the main topic of discussion all over the world. Countries  have faced systemic shocks to their public health care, disruption to  their economy, decline in external demand, reversal in capital flows,  as well as volatilities in prices of commodities. The actual economic  fallout is hard to predict, given that factors surrounding the pandemic  impact economies in ways that are without any historical precedent  to guide anyone.
   
3. As such, despite over 14 trillion US dollars collectively allocated by  governments all over the world to reduce the impact, the IMF has  concluded a 3.5 percent contraction for the global economy in 2020,  from the impact of an estimated loss of 22 trillion US dollars from  2020 to 2025. Of more concern, is the approximately 90 million  people who are expected to enter extreme poverty by the end of this  year, with over 495 million jobs lost due to the pandemic. This has wiped out growth trends seen over the past two decades, increasing  the risk of uneven recovery and bringing about higher inequality and  socio-economic issues throughout the world. 
   
   

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim  

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.  

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi  wabarakatuh.