Through collaboration and strategic alliances between Malaysian Islamic fund management companies and the participation banks in Turkey, the development and distribution of Shariah compliant funds across borders could be made possible and new investment options to divest the savings of retail clients, as well as in the  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  development of investment strategies to meet the needs of high net-worth individuals or sovereign funds. Fourthly, partnership in innovation – where the Malaysian and Turkish financial community could jointly develop innovative products and investment instruments, provide consultation and advisory services on complex legal, accounting, tax and Shariah matters as well as developing human talent to support the development of Islamic finance. Joint Shariah research could also be conducted with International Shariah Research Academy, dedicated research in applied Islamic finance based in Kuala Lumpur. And finally, on the education and research front, possible collaboration can be explored between the International Centre of Education in Islamic Finance or INCEIF and Turkish universities to give opportunities for Turkish students to enrol in professional and postgraduate programs. Students from Turkey intending to deepen their knowledge in Islamic financial industry are encouraged to consider learning opportunities offered by Malaysia including possible attachments with Malaysian financial institutions. As I speak, efforts to develop human capital are already taking place now, as a team from the Malaysian financial community led by the Central Bank of Malaysia is conducting a capacity programme on Islamic finance in Ankara. This programme is held in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank.

Collaboration between the two countries could be in many forms; for instance Turkish investors and financial institutions could use Malaysia as a gateway to the Asean region. Malaysian financial community could use Turkey as a base to Central Asian region and Europe. In the area of Islamic finance, Malaysia is committed to be a partner with Turkey to further promote the business prospect in this country. Malaysia being an Islamic financial hub in Asia is willing to share with Turkey our 30 years of experience in developing its Islamic  2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  financial industry and our knowledge and insights in operating an Islamic financial system that runs parallel with its conventional counterpart. Potential Turkey-Malaysia partnership in Islamic finance There are vast opportunities for Turkey-Malaysia bilateral cooperation, however let me mention five key areas of possible cooperation that could increase cross-border activities between our two countries. These are in the area of sukuk issuance, promoting cross-border activities, Islamic fund management, partnership in innovation and in education and research. Firstly, in the area of sukuk issuance, we welcome Turkish financial and business community to use Malaysia’s comprehensive and tested infrastructure with its extensive investors network as a platform to raise funds such as sukuk and Islamic syndication financing. The multi-currency sukuk market in Malaysia is well developed and active with over 60% of the outstanding sukuk in the world originating from Malaysia.