This is recently evident through the surge of applications in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, big data and blockchain, which promise to not only yield better business outcomes but enhance the overall human experience. In the fintech space, we are seeing applications such as eKYC for digital onboarding, telematics for insurance and invisible payments, all powered in some part by the technologies above. As we transition from the old economy into the new, digitalised economy, further investments in digital assets and business models will be instrumental for Malaysia. This includes investing in common digital infrastructures at the national level, such as payment systems, digital identity and 5G connectivity, which are critical to facilitate end-to-end digitalisation of the value chain. We 2/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  hope that the availability of these digital infrastructures will help support and sustain the growth of a vibrant fintech ecosystem in Malaysia. Again, asset managers and capital are in a unique position to drive greater technology adoption across the economy through their shareholder advocacy role. Take open data as an example. The benefits from an open data ecosystem are multifold through better risk management, increased business efficiencies and better customer choices. Economies that embrace data sharing for finance alone could see GDP gains of between 1-5% by 2030 with benefits flowing to customers and financial institutions2. However, incentivising adoption by ecosystem actors remains challenging. I see the capital market industry having a major role in plugging this gap.

This digital momentum has continued to persist in 2021, with e-payment usage recording a growth of 47% to 7.2 billion transactions, compared to 4.9 billion in 2019. In tandem, Malaysia has seen its fintech industry grow from 88 fintech players in 2017 to well over 200 by 20201. The composition of players has equally expanded in diversity, from initially payment centric solutions to now include lending, insurtech, wealthtech and artificial intelligence based solutions. Many believe, and I concur, that the effects of digitalisation from the pandemic are not temporary. They are long term and perhaps, even irreversible. And the digital awakening will only intensify moving forward, as we harness the power of fintech for inclusive and sustainable growth. Many challenges lie ahead of us. Volkan Bozkir, President of the United Nations General Assembly, somewhat summed it up for us as follows; “During this pandemic, the most vulnerable have been the hardest hit. We must increase our resilience. We must work together and take an integrated approach to health, hunger, climate and equity crisis”. In facing some of these challenges and to significantly help us along the way, we need to make the best use of technology, and more specifically for us, fintech as it can play an instrumental role in supporting Malaysia’s long-term resilience, growth and sustainability. Connecting this with capital, and entrepreneurs, as we are today, is the right step forward in this undertaking. Let me now share some specific thoughts on how capital can address some of the key pressing gaps in Malaysia.