Zeti Akhtar Aziz: Empowering consumers for a progressive and sustainable financial system Keynote address by Dr Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia, at the Third International Forum on Financial Consumer Protection and Education "Fostering Greater Consumer Protection and Education", Kuala Lumpur, 14 December 2005. *  *  *  Let me first of all extend a warm welcome to all of you to this Third International Forum on Financial Consumer Protection and Education. Malaysia is most honoured to host this conference. I understand that we have participants from across the globe, including for the first time, delegates from the Middle East and Africa. A forum such as this not only allows for greater engagement among regulators and brings about a better understanding on the issues confronting us but also contributes towards advancing forward the development agenda. Promoting a sound and progressive financial system is a vital and key pre-requisite to achieving sustainable economic growth and development. This recent decade has seen a significant transformation of the financial landscape shaped by the forces of globalisation, advances in technology, the trend towards greater market orientation and financial innovation. In this more dynamic environment, the maintenance of financial stability has become increasingly more complex and challenging. The requirements and expectations of consumers are also changing rapidly in tandem with the increased education levels, growing wealth and greater affluence.

Therefore, besides greater financial integration, the other two key pillars of the financial Blueprint relate to collaboration to promote financial inclusion and financial stability within ASEAN. ASEAN financial integration also promotes a gradual and prudent liberalisation of the capital account and it recognises the right of countries to take temporary capital flow management measures should these flows threaten to undermine stability. There is also ongoing work to strengthen regional surveillance arrangements, regional financial safety nets, and the regional crisis management and resolution framework. Therefore, while recognising the benefits of financial integration, there is also awareness of the risks, and this has led to a cautious but progressive approach that we hope would ensure that financial integration indeed contributes to sustainable growth of the ASEAN economies. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  Conclusion I will conclude with my view of the role of integration for Malaysia. Since the financial crisis, Malaysia’s growth has become more dependent on domestic demand and less dependent on external demand. While the resilience of domestic demand in the challenging environment is a noteworthy achievement, the reduced contribution of the external sector has clearly pushed Malaysia on to a lower growth trajectory. Since 2007, the contribution of net exports to real GDP growth has been negative with the sole exception of 2014. Over the longer term, the contribution of the external sector will need to expand to support a healthy and sustainable economy. Therefore, for Malaysia, economic integration and strengthening our economic ties with other countries is a necessity.