The Influence of CSR Practices on Financial Performance： Evidence From Islamic Financial Institutions in Indonesia

The emergence of Islamic Financial Institutions （IFls） is expected to provide enormous benefits for the Muslims community in Indonesia such as the availability of IFIs based on Sharia law and the implementation of Islamic value in the community. Like Corporate Social Responsibility （CSR） practices in all business organizations, the IFI＇s CSR becomes one of the important factors in improving organizational performance. The implementation of CSR in IFIs is unique as it is based on Sharia law. Zakat and Qardh are the uniqueness of IFI＇s CSR practices. There are many studies which have investigated the relationship of Zakat and Qardh on organizational performance in Arabic and Muslim countries. As Muslim countries, Islamic laws including providing Zakat and Qardh are practices of every business organization. Indonesia is not a Muslim country, Zakat and Qardh are only required for IFIs as part of CSR practices. This study aims to analyze the influence of CSR practices on the financial performances of IFIs in Indonesia using gender as a control variable. The samples of this research were taken from the annual reports of nine Islamic banks for the period of 2010-2014. Regression method was used to analyze and test hypotheses. The results of this research indicate that the relationship between CSR practices and financial performance is significant, the value of R is 0.737, and R square is 0.543. This means that the implementation of CSR practices （Zakat and Qardh） improves organizational financial performances of IFIs in Indonesia. This study also has a limitation as it only focuses on Zakat and Qardh; thus in the future, it is necessary to advance the variable of CSR practices on the real social and environmental practices such as environmental improvement, increasing the quality of human resources, involving in any jobs or reducing unemployment and any other activities.

Islamic Financial Development and Cooperation Among Member States in CICA

There are 26 member states in the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia(CICA),including Asian countries and some African countries.CICA has developed the regional and cooperation mechanism with the largest coverage,the largest number of members and the widest representation.The vast majority of member states are countries along the Belt and Road Initiative(B&R),and many countries use Islamic finance in CICA’s own financial system or are interested in cooperating with Islamic finance.For political and economic reasons,Islamic Banks development in CICA member states is imbalanced.Sukuk(Islamic Bonds)development in CICA member states is mainly sovereign Sukuk.The share of Islamic Funds assets in CICA member states is very low.The tak
aful sector in Iran is comparatively developed in CICA member states.Islamic Financial development and cooperation in CICA member states is mainly concentrated in Islamic countries.However,it has expanded to Non-Islamic Countries.In the future,Islamic finance development and cooperation will play an active role in the construction of the B&R.

Qatar as an Emerging Islamic Finance Hub

The principal objectives of this research are to provide information, commentary, and analysis of the potential opportunities for Qatar in developing its Islamic financial services and industry. This research examines how competitive Qatar is today and its future prospects in Islamic finance. This research provides policy makers and Islamic finance stakeholders with a superior understanding of the role of the key competitive factors in Islamic fmance. It is anticipated that this research will influence the growth and diversification of Islamic financial services in Qatar.