Hargeysa (SLpost)- The President of Somaliland, Muse Bihi Abdi, opened a two day banking and financial conference in Hargeisa.
The conference which was jointly organized by the Somaliland Central Bank and the Finance ministry was convened to discuss the relationship between the public and private sectors of Somaliland’s economic arena.
Speaking to the gathered delegates, the President stressed the need for co-operation between the Central bank and the private financial institutions in order to foster a stable business environment and to combat the spiraling inflation, money laundering, profiteering and the erratic foreign exchange market.
The President encouraged the participants to create a new formula to assist small businesses to generate more employment opportunities for Somaliland’s graduates.
The two day conference also included a business exhibition forum were many financial institutions, such as Amal Bank, Dara Salaam Bank, Dahabshiil Bank, Premier Bank, and many other prominent Somaliland businesses showcased their services and tools.
The President also too the opportunity to visit some of Hargeisa informal Money Exchangers, who took the opportunity to convey their concerns to the government.
As welcome as the conference is, it is worth remembering that the Somaliland Banking bill has been before the moribund parliament for the past few years. The main source of contention is between those who favour the Islamic Sharia law for banking services and those who prefer the conventional international banking procedures.
Ali Mohamed Abokor