In the Name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
 
السلام عليکم و رحمة الله و برکاتة

 On behalf of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I am privileged to welcome all high ranking officials, scholars, experts and distinguished delegates of the IFSB members to the Annual Meetings and side events of the Islamic Financial Services Board in 2017.
I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to H.E. the Governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia for the generous hospitality and hosting this round of the IFSB Annual Meetings. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Jaseem Ahmed, the Secretary General of IFSB, and his esteemed colleagues in the Secretariat and also all parties involved for their excellent efforts and arrangements for the Meetings.
I am deeply honored that the Central bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran assumes the IFSB Chairmanship for the second term since its establishment time in 2002.
The Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is one the founding members of the Islamic Financial Services Board. IFSB has so far made remarkable achievements in line with its main mission which is developing a prudent and transparent Islamic financial services industry through introducing new, or adapting existing international standards consistent with Sharî'ah principles, and recommend them for adoption. Those achievements would have been unattainable without the sincere attempts of the Secretariat and also full support and significant contribution of all members. I hope that such contributions would continue and progress in future. 
With a fully Sharî'ah compliant financial system, the Islamic Republic of Iran asserts a remarkable share in the Islamic financial services industry particularly in its banking sector. During the recent years, CBI has always tried to contribute to IFSB meetings, seminars and working groups. It also attempts to implement the IFSB standards in the banking system of Iran. At the present time, the main published standards of IFSB have been translated into Persian and offered to the banks so as to further prepare for adoption of the new international standards consistent with Sharî'ah principles. It is expected that the training courses associated with aforementioned published standards in Iran would pave the way for further implementation of the IFSB standards in our country which has the largest Islamic banking system in the world. 
I would like to take the opportunity and announce that the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran is perfectly willing and fully prepared to expand its cooperation with all IFSB members, particularly the full members, in various areas including correspondence relations, opening banks and branches, signing supervisory MOUs, opening bilateral accounts, holding training courses and exchanging experiences in the post JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) era.
I would have preferred to host this meeting in Iran for the second term so that you could have long lasting memories of the rich ancient Persian culture and art as well as the hospitality, kindness and peace seeking spirit of the Iranian people. However, due to some considerations, this round of the IFSB Meetings was decided to be held in Malaysia, after the Honorable Authorities of the Bank Negara Malaysia generously accepted to host of the meetings.
I encourage all delegates to fully contribute and actively participate in the event to share views and strengthen relationship. I hope that you have a memorable and nice stay in Malaysia.
 

Valiollah Seif,
Governor of the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran
Chairperson of IFSB 2017