IFN is delighted to introduce for the first time its inaugural World Leaders Summit, a one-day event designed to celebrate the latest developments and biggest achievements in the capital markets space. The Islamic debt capital market space has gone from strength to strength to become a sought-after asset class not only for diversification but for performance and return. 2017 saw the highest issuance of Sukuk since 2012, with growth outpacing 2016 by over 20%, and 2018 looks set to do even better. The GCC countries continue to be the most active issuers of US dollar-denominated Sukuk, contributing around 80% of new issuance in 2017. Unsurprisingly, this is largely due to giant issuances from leading sovereigns in the Middle East as they attempt to diversify away from oil and leverage new funding sources to meet budget deficits. Massive injections from Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar have garnered impressive orderbooks and stand testament to the ever-growing investor appetite for Islamic paper