The commencement of Commerce Takaful Berhad, which is indeed the first takaful operator to be launched this year, complements Bank Negara's initiatives of promoting the establishment of a core of strong players that could heighten competition and promote innovation in the takaful industry. This certainly will be reinforced by the establishment, InsyaAllah by the end of the year, of four additional takaful consortia and joint ventures between Malaysia and well-known foreign institutions. These four new institutions have recently been given official approval to conduct takaful business. The progress achieved by the takaful industry as a key component of the Islamic financial system has contributed towards the overall development of the Islamic financial industry. Islamic finance in Malaysia has evolved through several phases of development through the establishment of a number of key players and key market infrastructure. The Islamic finance industry in Malaysia has emerged as a viable and competitive component of the financial system, operating in parallel with the conventional financial system in contributing towards the nation's economic development and growth. Lembaga Tabung Haji, acknowledged to be the first Islamic financial institution in Malaysia, is now a major institution with a total deposits of more than RM13 billion. The Islamic banking industry, that consists  BIS Review 31/2006  1  of both dedicated Islamic banks and Islamic banking schemes in the conventional banks, continues to show commendable performance with profitability and assets surpassing for the first time the threshold of RM1 billion and RM100 billion respectively at the end of 2005.

Usaha bersepadu di peringkat industri juga perlu dalam pembangunan sumber insan dan dalam merangka pendekatan yang lebih berkesan untuk memasuki pasaran global. Semangat "takaful", iaitu saling bantu-membantu, perlu diperkukuhkan untuk menjadi teras kepada usaha kita membangunkan Malaysia sebagai pusat kewangan Islam antarabangsa yang unggul. It is indeed a pleasure to be here today to commemorate the official launch of "Commerce Takaful Berhad". It was almost a year ago, in April 2005, that we witnessed the emergence of its related company - "Commerce Tijari Bank Berhad". Commerce Tijari has since developed into a new, emerging provider of Islamic banking and financial solutions that successfully leveraged on its strong group structure, thereby contributing towards spurring the growth of the Islamic financial services industry in the country. Alhamdulillah, today, the setting up of Commerce Takaful Berhad is another significant milestone reflecting the Group's strong commitment towards providing a complete range of Shariah-compliant financial solutions, covering Islamic banking and takaful and the capital market, that is competitive, comprehensive and tailor-made to meet the demands of the consumers. For the takaful industry in Malaysia, the emergence of Commerce Takaful Berhad in the Islamic financial landscape is indeed timely. This is particularly so in our efforts to further strengthen the institutional infrastructure of our takaful industry by increasing the diversity and strength of players in the Islamic financial system. These players will be the driving force, accelerating the expansion of takaful business, not only in Malaysia but regionally as well as globally.