This can be seen from recent evidence of financial institutions in the region that have successfully adopted “double bottom line” strategies that combine enhanced financial access goals with profitability, thus enabling the financial inclusion agenda to be achieved in a responsible and sustainable manner. Institutions in several parts of Asia have been effective in utilising innovative means of outreach to overcome geographical and cost barriers in delivering essential financial services such as microcredit, affordable insurance, avenues for savings, and accessible payments and remittance services. Governments in the region continue with measures to bridge the gap with the necessary financial infrastructure, developing rules for orderly and responsible business conduct, and catalysing the volume of financial transactions by channelling social transfers, wages or pensions through the formal financial system. Such advancements by the region in financial inclusion contribute towards eradicating poverty and uplifting living standards. As growth in the region continues, it will become even more important to ensure that such growth does not further widen the social divide and disenfranchise those who remain excluded from its benefits. An inclusive growth process in the region, which draws marginalised segments into the formal financial system and that empowers small businesses and consumers already within the financial system to better utilise financial services, will enhance the contribution of this segment of the population to the economic growth process. Fourth, is the greater regional economic and financial integration in Asia which has been supported by strengthened institutional frameworks for safeguarding regional financial stability and a deepening of regional cooperation.

Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Global challenges and local opportunities Keynote address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the IBBM-APABI Conference: “Global challenges and local opportunities”, Kuala Lumpur, 8 May 2012. *  *  *  It is my honour to officiate this Asian-Pacific Association of Banking Institutes (APABI) Conference hosted here in Kuala Lumpur by the Institute of Bankers Malaysia (IBBM). This Association has an important role in bringing together financial industry training institutes that share a common goal to equip financial institutions with the capacity to deal with the transformational developments that are shaping the financial sector – by supporting the continued renewal of its most valuable asset, human capital. The global financial industry is experiencing a period of profound change. In the advanced economies, decades of exceptional growth are giving way to contracting financial and economic conditions, greater regulation and significant government intervention, while in the emerging world however, financial and economic growth have continued. In addition, the intensification of policies and reforms to address structural issues in several of the major advanced economies will also have a significant bearing on the future growth prospects for many financial institutions and businesses. This is reinforced by the implementation of new prudential standards, both at the national and global levels, which are also set to substantially redefine the expected norms and the boundaries of modern finance.