Over the years, the Bank established specialised institutions to enrich the talent ecosystem. These institutions, namely INCEIF, ISRA, IBFIM, the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF) and the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance Malaysia (ASAS) have collectively contributed towards sustainable development of professionals and expertise in the industry. I am pleased to note that the industry has significantly benefitted from the contribution of these institutions. INCEIF is now widely recognised as a global university in Islamic finance and has enrolled more than 2,000 students from 80 countries and produced over 1,000 graduates to date. ISRA plays an instrumental role as a dedicated Shariah research arm as well as a knowledge repository for Islamic finance. It is known as one of the key players in Islamic finance research globally and has emerged as the top contributor in Islamic finance research between 2011–2013. IBFIM, which is the industry training arm, has also made significant achievements with over 6,400 participants attending its training programmes in 2015. In raising the bar of professionalism, the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals as the first professional body in Islamic finance seeks to promote the highest standards of professional practice amongst Islamic finance practitioners. Two standards on the admission of members and accreditation of institutions have been issued in November last year and two more are anticipated in 2016. ASAS, with prominent scholars as its members, has also embarked on various initiatives that have contributed towards its objective of inculcating the highest level of professionalism of Shariah advisors.

This initiative is also an important milestone in terms of academia-industry cooperation in equipping our students with industry relevant and contemporary application of Shariah contracts in Islamic financial products and services. Given the new content on the subject matter, a pre-condition to successfully implement the learning guide is to train and expose lecturers to multiple disciplines of subject matters. Particularly, as the applications of the Shariah and operational requirements cover various fields that include legal, accounting, risk management and information technology. Developmental training is a critical component as it enables the imparting of knowledge effectively. Strategising talent deployment While it is acknowledged that the role of learning institutions is essential to develop talent with higher skill sets, the industry also has an important role to ensure effective deployment of graduates as they enter the workforce. The number of graduates is indeed increasing at a rapid rate. The general feedback of Shariah graduates however is the lack of opportunities for employment. But the reality is that the industry still grapples with shortage of the right talent that can lead and energise innovation. A solution is to reconcile the expectation gaps of the industry and graduates. Talent enrichment program is one area where we can pursue to bring out the best of student talent. Enrichment programmes in areas beyond Shariah, such as leadership training at the early stage of recruitment would strengthen the confidence of Shariah students and provide the required exposure for them to understand and appreciate the intricacies of business environment.