It is therefore important for the Islamic financial institutions personnel to enhance their own knowledge on the products and services offered, as well as customer service orientation. Ladies and Gentlemen, While the level of public awareness on Islamic banking and finance has significantly improved, more efforts can be done to reach out to the wider population, in particular the sub-urban and rural areas. Existing infrastructure must be utilized in an efficient manner to effectively disseminate information on Islamic financial products and services including by leveraging on the information and communication technology. Information can be in various forms, with the objective of enhancing financial literacy in Islamic finance in our community. The advancement in ICT has also had significant impact on the operations of Islamic financial institutions with respect to information management systems, product development, risk management and distribution capabilities. Significant application of IT would enhance efficiency by bringing down costs for consumers and businesses. As part of our initiative for the extensive dissemination of information effectively and efficiently, Bank Negara Malaysia has developed a website on the Islamic money market. More specifically, the website aims to serve as a source of information on domestic Islamic financial instruments. It would provide greater transparency of the Central Bank’s Islamic money market operations, thus facilitating investment decisions and enhancing public confidence in their investments. The website also provides an analysis facility to chart historical data, in addition to reference to the rules and regulations in the conduct of the Islamic money market transactions.

Industri kewangan Islam di Malaysia telah muncul sebagai satu komponen sistem kewangan yang berdaya maju dan berdaya saing, seiring dengan sistem kewangan konvensional dalam menyumbang kepada pembangunan dan pertumbuhan ekonomi negara. Kini kita telah memiliki lanskap kewangan Islam yang komprehensif, dan kejayaan kita dalam mengintegrasikannya telah menyumbang kepada proses pengantaraan kewangan domestik yang lebih progresif. Sehingga kini, perbankan Islam telah berjaya menjana aset sekitar RM90 bilion atau 10 peratus daripada juzuk pasaran. Industri takaful pula telah mencatat aset sejumlah hampir RM5.0 bilion. To further strengthen the Islamic financial system and sustain its growth, it is vital to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the Islamic financial institutions in meeting the changing requirements of our economy. The Islamic financial infrastructure needs to be continually enhanced to meet the new, more complex and differentiated demands of the various economic activities of the respective sectors of our economy. Of importance is the need to provide a mechanism to ensure accessibility to information by the public on Islamic financial services and products. An extensive and structured education programme is thus key to enhance consumer and business awareness and knowledge on the products and services. It also represents part of the efforts to promote market integrity over the activities in the market. Of equal importance is also the need to strengthen the consumer protection infrastructure in Islamic finance. Effective dissemination of information will provide consumers and businesses with the necessary information to undertake the financial transactions with awareness of their rights and accountabilities.