More people are reading the news online or on Twitter instead of printed newspapers or listening to podcasts instead of the radio and watching YouTube instead of TV. The financial sector has also experienced a major revolution. Fewer and fewer transactions are made with cash and banking services that were previously provided at bank offices have moved online. Swish payments are now as common as cash payments.9 In a few years’ time, it may be the case that the use of cash is at such a low level that the general public no longer has access to any form of central bank money that can be used to make payments in ordinary shops. This would be a step into the unknown, and is something I have mentioned on earlier occasions when I discussed the potential introduction of an e-krona.10 Change and “creative destruction” are positive in the long run.11 It is important to point this out, even if it seems obvious. In 1850, almost four in five people in Sweden worked in the agricultural sector. It was hard work, done under difficult conditions and entailed long working days. Just over 100 years later, less than one in five people in Sweden were working in agriculture. Many had instead sought their fortunes in the growing industrial sector, which reached an employment peak in the mid-1960s. Gradually, jobs in the industrial sector were then replaced by jobs in the service industries, including the public sector.

There are now more than 600 Islamic financial institutions operating in more than 75 countries. Increasingly, existing Islamic banking institutions are expanding their operations with presence in new jurisdictions. This is resulting in increased cross border financial flows. There has also been increased international participation in Islamic financial markets. Since the late 1990s the Sukuk market has emerged as an important form of intermediation in Islamic finance. It has been instrumental in the financing structures for infrastructure projects, investments in the utilities sectors, in particular for water and power projects, and in the services sector, in education, healthcare and transportation. Islamic finance essentially offers clear value propositions to both global issuers and investors. For issuers, there is access to new sources of funds and liquidity. And in introducing a new asset class, investors gain from portfolio diversification and new investment opportunities that are aligned to productive investment activities. Internationalisation of Islamic finance: mutually-reinforcing benefits Islamic finance draws its strength from serving the real economy. An important feature of Islamic finance is that it involves financial transactions that must be accompanied by an underlying economic transaction. And when it is cross border, it will facilitate financial flows that will support international trade and investment flows. It will contribute towards bridging economies and enhancing our economic connectivity with each other. In this current global environment in which emerging economies are demonstrating their resilience with the ability to sustain growth despite the moderation in global expansion, there is tremendous prospects for mutually reinforcing growth from increased economic connectivity.