AlKhalidi: Monitoring successful endowment experiments is an important step to reach an effective Waqf sector.
Al-Qahtani: Islamic Waqf's pride has become a base for sustainable development.
Under the patronage of His Royal Highness, Prince Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz, prince Ahmed bin Fahad bin Salman, Deputy Governor of the region, inaugurated The Forum of Waqf Practices 2018 on Sunday, 1 April 2018. It was organized by Asharqia Chamber, represented by the Awqaf Committee, as government officials, businessmen and women, and a number of experts and specialists from inside and outside the Kingdom were among the audience.
During his speech at the opening ceremony, Abdulhakeem Bin Hamad Al-Ammar Al-Khalidi (the Chairman of Asharqia Chamber) said that our country today "is moving towards a new era of a booming and diversified economy, according to a pioneering vision that emphasizes the importance of the private sector and the roles it can play in building a competitive endowment sector. It could be done either through transferring its institutional and administrative expertise, or through establishing new waqfs that would serve as an extension of the national economy and cover a wide range of the needs of the community. The Waqf would adopt religious, educational, and therapeutic projects of various kinds."
Al-Khalidi added that despite the growing interest of our government, and public and private sectors, as well as charitable endowments, Asharqia Chamber has harnessed its early potential to participate in the revival and development of the waqf practices among the business community. Therefore, it promoted the awareness of the business sector in the region of the importance of establishing and adopting endowments practices, and coordinated with various official and non-official agencies for the development of the regulations of governing Waqf projects.
He pointed out that the good management of Awqaf assets still needs more ideas about its legislation to increase its size and diversify its directions. "So, we achieve our sustainable growth and tangible participation of the sector in the Gross domestic product by 2030.
Al-Khalidi mentioned that this forum, with its papers and issues, discusses the practical aspect of how to upgrade the practices of local endowments and increase their effectiveness and impact in the national economy. It is a platform for the continuation and the development of knowledge of the successful endowment practices locally and internationally, and knowledge of the development, investment, and legitimacy of the Waqf system. It is in response to the developmental endeavors of our wise government and with this unremitting social movement to increase Waqf contributions economically and socially.
At the end of his speech, AlKhalidi valued the great efforts exerted by the government to elevate the system of endowments according to contemporary scientific foundations. He expressed the hope that this forum will contribute to the ideas and experiences of the Waqf in the development of endowments and the development of new ideas, as well as to manage their assets and encourage their establishment among the business community because of their impact on business and family inheritance.
Development contributions
The chairman of the Awqaf Committee in Asharqia Chamber, Dr. Ayed Al-Qahtani, said, "The Waqf -as a pride of the boasting of Islam that witnessed alive to the development of Islamic civilization- has become one of the most important aspects of development contributions on which the bases of sustainable development in modern times."
Al-Qahtani talked about our country during the era of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, who is keen to re-discover the waqf sector by addressing its operational, regulatory, and legislative challenges to be a true figure in the national economy. The contribution of the non-profit sector, whose main financier is the endowment, is only 0.3%, compared with the global average of 6%. The percentage of public endowment revenues is SR 325 million per year compared to the size of the public endowments under the management of the General Authority of Awqaf estimated at SR 14 billion, both of which are weak compared to the size of the Saudi economy and the large potentials available in it.
Investment efficiency
Al-Qahtani stressed the importance of work and participation among all public, private, and charitable sectors in providing all that would contribute to the diversification and renewal of Awqaf banks and raising the efficiency of their investment for funds. In addition, it would truly reflect on the size of the Saudi economy and contribute to the development of other sectors besides religious and social needs.
He said that the future of the Awqaf sector in the Kingdom is promising as there is great liveliness in the Saudi society, as well as a political will that aimed at upgrading the waqf sector in order to be a diversified sector that is capable of achieving the desired effect in the national economy. Therefore, the importance of this forum is that to shed light on various aspects of upgrading the waqf sector in the Kingdom and to explore its roles in the future in accordance with the best Waqf practices in light of the requirements of economic development.
Qahtani expressed his hope to come up with recommendations that enhance the effectiveness and position of the Awqaf sector in the national economy.
At the end of the official ceremony, the chairman of the Chamber, Abdul Hakim Al-Khalidi, presented a souvenir to His Highness the Prince of the Eastern Region for sponsoring the forum and also presented a souvenir to His Highness the Deputy prince to honor the ceremony. The Chairman of the Awqaf Committee, Dr. Ayed Al-Qahtani, also presented a commemorative gift and a number of the Commission's publications to the Deputy Governor of the Region.
He also honored the sponsors of the forum, speakers and chairpersons of the sessions, as well as a number of media people who provided support to the forum and other events of the Chamber.
Forum sessions
Dr. Robert Graff: The Waqf situation is a common human heritage.
The legal Russell: Governance limits the mismanagement of family endowments.
Dr. AlDuelij: Safety of the legal situation, attracting qualified cadres, and automation contributed to the quality of the waqf.
The forum consisted of 6 sessions; the establishment of six extended dialogue sessions during which a number of local and international endowments' experiences were presented.
In the first session, the Executive Director of the Massena Foundation in Germany, Dr. Robert Graff Stratcheuter, said that the waqf situation is a common situation among nations and peoples. It is a common human heritage. Responsibility of doing charitable works appears to be close among institutions. Therefore, he called for more cooperation between the institutions that concerned in charity work.
The session was titled, "Experience of Endowments between Europe and the Arab World" and was led by a member of the Board of Directors of the King Abdulaziz & His Companions Foundation for Giftedness and Creativity (Talent), Eng. Salah Alzamil. Dr. Robert Graff Stratcheuter said that the Islamic Waqf (or that is existing in Islamic law) in its practical form is not far from some institutions in Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Italy as the foundations are almost one, and the objectives are close. The people that believe in the heavenly religions believe that charitable work will guarantee them a better future in other life, and charity work leads to solving some of the problems of daily life. He noted on the existence of economic benefits that may be earned by institutions through voluntary charitable work, through its presence in society and its emergence as a party keen to serve the community and development. He pointed out that with the differences between Islamic law, Anglo-Saxon law, Roman law, and other legal systems in the purely legal sense, there are common denominators among them in social and charitable work. He mentioned that the adoption or rediscovery of institutions as a tool of philanthropy in many countries of the world; the idea spreads from Europe to North and South America. He said that many institutions come in multiple legal forms, e.g., some performs many functions, some may be subject to very different rules and regulations, some may be an expression of charity and some are not, and some may be an instrument for spending their founder's wealth for the common good.
At the end of his paper, he described charitable organizations as one of the sources of creativity in work and in ideas.
Second session
At the second session, the legal counsel at the Otter Temple offices of legal and tax consultants, David Russell, emphasized the need to create a legal framework for endowments to avoid family disputes and to ensure continuity of performance in a sustainable structure. The session was held under the title, "Successful experiences in the governance of family endowments," and was conducted by the Executive Director of Sulaymaniyah Investment Group and a member of the National Endowment Committee, Engineer Mohammed Arab. Russell said that more than 70% of family businesses in the Arabian Gulf do not continue for the third generation, unlike in many other Western countries where wealth comes from public companies. Indeed, in many countries, endowments continue for life. In the United States, for example, endowments are divided between health and others aspects. In order to prevent extreme abuse of endowments in some countries, a stable system of property must be created through the institutionalization of governance that is suitable for family needs.
Third Session
At its third session, the Executive Director of the Waqf of Saad and Abdul Aziz Al-Mousa, Dr. Fahd Bin Hamad Al-Dailaj, stressed the "experience of the Waqf of Saad and Abdul Aziz Al-Mousa." From Aldialaj's point of view, it is a local endowment experience that has been able to achieve growth and sustainability. It has obtained the Rubeiz Quality Certificate, the Arabic version of the Picasso system of the British CES. According to a vision developed by Sheikh Saad and Abdul Aziz al-Mousa, the waqf is based on the active contribution to building a philanthropic sector that is developed and involved in achieving sustainable development. He noted to the keenness of the two leaders, Saad Abdul Aziz Al-Mousa, from the beginning on the independence of the Waqf. Therefore, they established a board and they were not part of it. The board were distinguished by the diversity of its members and their expertise, as well as the diversity and comprehensiveness of its spending in the instrument of Waqf.
During the meeting, which was conducted by Ahmad Al-Bahmar, CEO of Salem Al-Hammar Holding Company, Aldialaij said that the Waqf was cautious to follow the transparency practices. The list of its financial budgets was posted on the Ministry of Commerce website, and an annual accounting report was presented through a legal accounting office. He said that the safety of the legal situation, the agreement of the principals, attracting qualified cadres and other technical factors, the automation of work, and the development of the list of employees contributed to the achievement of the quality and the institutional excellence of the Waqf.
Fourth session
Mithaq Holding CEO, Khalid Bin Abed Qumah, discussed the experience of Awqaf bin Mahfouz; the institutional investment of Waqf assets, and its main components through the experience of Bin Mahfouz, both in terms of its international and local portfolio. He indicated that the purpose of the Waqf investment is to protect, develop, and sustain it in the long term, as well as to find a balance in the market for the competition generated by the new offers in light of limited demand growth. He pointed out that Awqaf bin Mahfouz is an investment practice since 1998. It has been a good success throughout this period and has become an investment entity and a quasi-equivalent to the global experiences because of the frameworks established in the Waqf assets that it owns. He stressed that an important part of the institutional management is to follow developments around them.
The session was conducted by Turki Al-Rajhi, a member of the board of directors of Abdulrahman Al-Rajhi & partners. He pointed out that Awqaf bin Mahfouz's follow-up of the corporate processes and the practices of governance in accordance with international standards, as well as interest in scheduling the distribution of assets in its internal and external investments helped in increasing its internal and external weights in 2017. He pointed out that the average weight of the Bin Mahfouz International portfolio was 25% for listed international stocks, and 40% for income generating properties. The average weight of the local portfolio was 50% for land development and retention, 47% for income generating properties, and 3% for closed investment funds.
Advice
In the fifth session entitled, "Experiences of the British Endowments", Eng. Musa Al-Mousa, member of the Endowments Committee in the Chamber was speaking, while Dr. Adel Al-Qahtani, Senior Engineer in Saudi Aramco, was conducting this session. Al-Mousa said that through the visit of several waqf parties in Britain, it became clear that the mechanism of Waqf management comes with the selection of the waqf authority as a director or more for the management of the Waqf. For example, a university has 80 to 90 specialists in the Waqf administration, each person in a particular field. One of the donor institutions, for instance, has 12 elected directors from various financial, social, and government sectors, while three of them are executive directors.
Al-Mousa provided important tips for the Waqf parties: mutual trust between the two parties, choosing the most suitable partner to achieve the goal, seeking the public interest, and mutual benefit.
In the sixth and final session, which was titled, "The Experience of Sheikh Abdullah Al Mutawa." Dr. Salah Al-Abdalqader, Secretary of the Trusteeship Council of the Waqf in Kuwait, was speaking, while Dr. Saleh Al-Rasheed, Vice Chairman of Sulaymaniyah Investment Group, was conducting the session. That one-third of the waqf of the father Ali Abdul Wahab al-Mutawa was one of the third largest charity suspended in the State of Kuwait, and this indicates the good development of Abdullah Al-Mutawa for the one-third of his father. The mother of Sheikh Abdullah Abdulla Al-Qena'i and the grandmother to his mother, Moadi AlSultan Qana'i, gave the management of their one-third of their charity to the son Abdullah after their death. However, Sheikh Abdullah Al Mutawa succeeded in managing these three-charity merits due to his good development and management.
Al-Abdalqader said that the Executive Committee of the Waqf meets almost weekly to follow up the work of the Waqf. He pointed out that the investment committee of the Waqf aims to develop it from the financial, investment, and real estate sectors. They discuss it at its quarterly meeting, as well as the use of consultants in the implementation of its work.
AlAbdalqader stated that Baka Charity Company was established in 2008, with a view to enhancing and managing the resources of the third, as well as facilitating the administrative procedures for the one-third transactions of Abdullah Alali Alabd Al-Wahhab Al-Mutawa.
Al-Abdalqader pointed out that the Council of Guardians is the first to pay special attention to the projects of the Holy Quran, from reciting, preserving, and printing it inside and outside the State of Kuwait.
Al-Mutawa Program for Scientific Excellence has concluded a protocol of cooperation with Al-Najat Charitable Society because it has a very successful experience. The protocol includes regulations that will provide support to the needy students as well as the important educational programs in the State of Kuwait, which benefit sons and daughters through emphasizing the role and the promotion of education in society.
