Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Focus on human capital development in Malaysia
Welcoming remarks by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the INCEIF
Strategic Partnership 2006, Kuala Lumpur, 14 December 2006.
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Yang Berhormat, Dato' Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of Higher Education, Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my great pleasure and honour to welcome you to INCEIF Strategic Partnership in conjunction with
the signing of Memorandum of Understanding between INCEIF and nine institutions of higher learning
in Malaysia. This occasion is of particular significance as, on this day, with the grace of Allah, we are
laying the foundation for the promotion of collaborative efforts in human capital development which will
benefit the Islamic financial services industry.
Against an environment of a rapidly evolving Islamic financial industry and the growing significance of
Islamic financial institutions globally, human intellectual capital has become the defining factor in
sustaining the performance and competitiveness of the Islamic financial industry. Indeed, the fast pace
of innovation in global financial services in general and in the Islamic financial services sector in
particular, demands new expertise and skills. In this environment, the creation of a substantial pool of
talent is indispensable for the future growth of Islamic finance. In this regard, Malaysia has placed
strong focus on human capital development through training and education.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The establishment of the International Centre for Education in Islamic Finance (INCEIF) reflects
Malaysia's continuous effort and commitment towards development of a progressive Islamic financial
industry by developing and enhancing human intellectual capital in Islamic finance. These efforts will
also reinforce the efforts to position Malaysia as an international Islamic financial centre (MIFC).
Since its establishment in March this year, INCEIF has made significant progress. To date, I am
pleased to announce that INCEIF has now more than 600 registered students with 26 per cent of them
coming from 21 countries. As a move to develop and encourage research in Islamic Finance, INCEIF
is offering research grants for ongoing as well as new research projects. Grants are available on a
competitive basis and I am pleased to note that the research grant to be awarded today covers a
broad range of areas ranging from Islamic financing, product innovation, risk management and
governance.
In establishing a world class centre for education and training in Islamic finance, of importance, is the
combined collaborative efforts among industry players, researchers, academicians and Shariah
scholars. The critical shortage of available technical talent in the Islamic financial industry can be
addressed if all the relevant participants to the Islamic financial sector - the industry, the regulators,
the market participants and the academia are willing to forge their efforts together on a continuous
basis to elevate the performance level of Islamic finance. Today, we are paving the way for closer
collaboration between INCEIF and the institutions of higher learning in Malaysia to realise our common
objective of developing the pool of expertise in Islamic finance. This collaborative move, would
establish a network of mutual co-operation and collaboration that would strengthen the efforts between
the institutions of higher learning in the areas of curriculum development, research, training, exchange
of ideas and information, and resources in Islamic finance. This partnership in connecting the
knowledge communities in Malaysia needs to be developed and maintained on a long-term basis.
Entering into strategic alliances with institutions of higher learning, Islamic financial institutions and
other organisations would create greater synergy, which may bring about new approaches, new
technologies and new areas of specialization. Collaborative efforts between INCEIF and institutions of
higher learning in particular, would strengthen the ability to leverage on the respective institutions'
expertise in research. The introduction of new research findings in Islamic financial engineering could
pave the way for increased innovation of new products. This would contribute towards broadening and
deepening Islamic financial markets and thus strengthen the overall development of the Islamic
financial industry. In addition, active collaboration between academic researchers and the practitioners
will enable the practical application of research findings.
One of the strategic steps that INCEIF has initiated is the forging into strategic alliances with the five
takaful operators to collaborate in promoting and undertaking research, development, training and
education in Islamic finance. In the international arena, INCEIF has also established strategic alliances
with the Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI) of the Islamic Development Bank, Lembaga
Pengembangan Perbankan Indonesia (LPPI) of Bank Indonesia, National Institute of Banking and
Finance (NIBAF) of State Bank of Pakistan and Ceylinco Sussex Business School, Sri Lanka, among
others. INCEIF is also in the midst of finalising its collaborative efforts with organisations in the United
Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar.
Initiatives have also been taken to enhance the pool of talent is in the field of Shariah. This has been
done by awarding research grants and scholarships to deserving outstanding candidates. This
initiative will be funded by the Shariah Endowment Fund which was announced in August this year.
The applications for the Shariah Scholarship Award and the Shariah Research Grant for 2006 are still
open to qualified candidates until the end of the year.
Apart from this, many other initiatives have been taken by the relevant bodies in Malaysia to
strengthen talent development at all levels in Islamic finance. At the strategic leadership level,
Malaysia has established the International Centre for Leadership in Finance or ICLIF as part of an
effort to spearhead the development of a new generation of world class leaders in the financial
services sector including Islamic finance towards high performance and excellence. In the
development of technical expertise, the Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia (IBFIM), the
industry training arm, has played an active role in producing well-trained and high calibre individuals
with the necessary skills in Islamic finance. IBFIM offers advisory, training and consultancy services on
Islamic banking and finance and organise seminars, workshops and conferences to create awareness
and training to meet specific requirements of the industry. The programmes on offer include the
fundamental aspects of Shariah, Islamic banking and takaful and risk management in Islamic
financing. IBFIM has been working closely with the industry to ensure that their training and education
programmes are tailored to meet the changing needs of the industry.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In conclusion, the future success of Islamic finance will depend on the co-ordinated and concerted
collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, namely the Islamic finance practitioners, educators and
researchers. In this regard, all parties should put in relentless efforts to continuously promote the
development of Islamic finance into one which is progressive, dynamic, responsive and sustainable.
While the increasingly more competitive prevailing environment raises the pressures to produce
immediate-term results, it is the investment in human capital and in research and development that will
secure the long-term sustainability of the industry.
With the grace of Allah, and with the support of all those involved in Islamic finance, it is our hope that
INCEIF will make a meaningful contribution to the future development of Islamic finance for the benefit
of the ummah.
In closing, once again, I would like to express our deepest appreciation to the Yang Berhormat Dato'
Mustapa Mohamed, Minister of Higher Education for gracing this occasion and for accepting to
witness INCEIF partnership with nine institutions of higher learning.
Thank you.