On July 5, 2018, the official opening ceremony of the Astana International Financial Centre Astana (AIFC) took place during the Astana Finance Days International Finance Conference at the "Expo" Congress Centre. The Centre, a brainchild of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, is set to become the largest financial services provider in the EEA and Central Asia region. A key feature of AIFC is the jurisdiction of common English law, which is familiar and convenient for investors.

During the opening of the AIFCC, cooperation was established with the College of Islamic Studies (Doha, Qatar). Issues of joint training of personnel in the field of Islamic finance were discussed during the meeting.

The meeting was attended by the president of Hamad Bin Khalifa University Ahmad M. Hasna director of the College of Islamic Studies Emad El-Din Shahin, director of the Research Center for Islamic Economy and Finance Said Nazim, as well as representatives of IFC (International Financial Center "Astana"). Opening the meeting, the rector of KazNU Galym Mutanov stressed the importance of interaction between universities. He spoke about the activities and prospects for the development of the university.

The Chairman of the Central Bank of the State of Qatar Sheikh Abdollah bin Saud Al-Thani delivered a lecture on Islamic finance and banking at theal-Farabi KazNU.