At the 20th International Shari’ah Scholars Forum on implementing Islamic banking, the Central Bank of the Republic of Uzbekistan announced a cooperation memorandum with INCEIF aimed at strengthening capabilities in Islamic finance. The forum convened domestic and international commercial banks, financial institutions, and regulators alongside Shari’ah scholars and specialists. First-day discussions focused on how contracts are classified and applied in modern practice, with emphasis on structuring them using transparent, unified criteria as a foundation for client trust and the development of Islamic finance. Under the memorandum, the parties agreed to collaborate on training programmes, courses and seminars at the Central Bank and to conduct joint research, and to translate four Islamic finance books into Uzbek and make them available to users. The forum is scheduled to continue on September 18 with sessions on new directions and pressing issues in Islamic finance.