In building the base, the financial institutions in Malaysia , onshore and offshore, are encouraged to develop a niche in the overall landscape for MIFC. Players with expertise in structuring Islamic instruments should capitalise on the tax incentives by having the syndication team to be based in Malaysia for the  BIS Review 104/2006  3  issuance of ringgit and non-ringgit sukuks out of Malaysia, while those with investment and private banking as well as fund management expertise should intensify their focus on efforts in this area and structure innovative Islamic investment instruments. Existing players are also urged to be MIFC players and develop Malaysia as their regional hub with the potential to have the international currency business operations either through the onshore regulatory framework or under the Labuan offshore structure. The success of MIFC will depend on the collaborative efforts of the financial regulators, the delivery system, the industry players and the supporting professionals. In meeting the MIFC objectives, we encourage the exploitation of this new growth area. At the onset, it is also emphasized that an equally important part of this process is having the right people in place with the appropriate skills, having in place the appropriate systems and governance framework to ensure the viability and sustainability of this industry. This morning's dialogue will provide the opportunity to deliberate the issues from the different perspectives and dimensions so that the full potential of the MIFC initiatives can be realized. On this note, I wish you a successful Dialogue. Thank you.

This is to enhance market access and business networking, and also to widen the customer base and to generate new sources of businesses in uncharted territories;  •  fifth, liberalising the foreign exchange administration rules to allow multilateral development banks and multinational corporations to issue ringgit denominated instruments in our domestic bond market. In further liberalising the market, I am pleased to announce that resident and foreign issuers will now be able to raise foreign currency-denominated bonds, in particular, Islamic bonds, in the Malaysian capital market. The foreign issuers eligible to take this opportunity are the sovereigns, quasi-sovereigns, multilateral development banks, multilateral financial institutions and multinational corporations, while resident issuers are the local MNCs. This represents part of Bank Negara Malaysia's continuous efforts to promote the development of the Malaysian bond market, and to enhance Malaysia as a centre of origination, distribution and trading of sukuks. The issuance of foreign currency denominated bonds will also provide additional flexibility for both residents and foreign investors to diversify their investments into non-ringgit investments in Malaysia . In taking the MIFC initiative to the next phase of development, I am also pleased to share with you some of the current work-in-progress to this agenda further forward. The International Islamic Bank (IIB) and International Takaful Operator (ITO) will be allowed to be set up as a branch in addition to a subsidiary as currently stipulated under the domestic banking and takaful legislation.