TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta:London-based business and management consultancy institution, BMB Islamic, reported that Indonesia’s sharia finance industries ranked fourth globally after Iran, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. Mulya Siregar, former Bank Indonesia Sharia Banking director, said Indonesia ranked higher than other countries which have been intensively developing sharia economy such as the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Pakistan, Bahrain, and the United Kingdom. Mulya continued that the ranking was based on several main indicators. One of them is the presence of the National Sharia Council. The council is responsible for the national uniformity of fatwa and the development of sharia businesses. “This shows that Islamic banking and finance in Indonesia are gaining global attention.” MARTHA THERTINA