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This paper aims to propose a new Islamic trade finance framework for Islamic financial institution (FIs) to support exports in Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) countries.

This paper introduces and proposes the recently developed Islamic finance methods of the supplier financing Wakala agreement, restricted Mudaraba and award-winning Export Credit Agency (ECA) export finance structures from the aspects of Shari’ah compliance, efficiency, simplicity for traders and risk management. This paper uses the approach of critical realism. The three-stratum approach is appropriate for Islamic product development, where the real, the actual and the empirical can be observed.

The author argues that the ECA export financing structures, or restricted Mudaraba if preferred, with an embedded supplier financing Wakala agreement can pave the way for Islamic FIs to support exporting companies. It is also concluded that development and support of the Takaful industry are vital for the success of Islamic export financing schemes because of its role in risk management.

Although very active in import financing with standard Murabaha contracts, Islamic FIs are still not able to meet the need for financing the expanding exports of OIC countries. Because of the difficulty in developing products that are both efficient and Shari’ah-compliant, export financing is the most controversial issue for the Islamic trade finance industry. Existing or proposed export finance products are heavily criticised by concerned Muslims, as they include bill discounting, akin to factoring in conventional finance. This paper introduces methods aimed at overcoming the inadequacy of existing structures.

The purpose of this paper is to explore an alternative Islamic monetary system in which money is created from supply chain grassroots based on work effort and is accessible to people as long as they offer goods and services demanded by others.

This study adopts the critical realism approach and highlights the challenges with the present monetary system. It also proposes to address these challenges through an alternative monetary system in which money creation starts from the grassroots of the supply chain. The proposed system extends the real-world complementary currency concept of barter to a holistic electronic trading platform, which includes chain barter alternatives, licensed warehouses and electronic warehouse receipts within the Islamic microfinance practice, thereby facilitating cross-border trade and international trade payments. An electronic currency, valued at the worth of goods produced in the supply chain, is introduced as the medium of exchange.

The problem with past monetary systems can be addressed through current information technology and supply chain management to enable a monetary system and money creation based on real economic transactions.

This study proposes an alternative monetary system, which is only possible by harnessing supply chain management with money creation. The proposed monetary system may be considered, should the present system fail or need to be improved.