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.

Niklaus Blattner: Review of the Swiss economy Introductory remarks by Prof Dr Niklaus Blattner, Member of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, at the end-of-year media news conference, Zurich, 13 December 2002. *  *  *  In conducting monetary policy, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) must be able to rely on a healthy banking system. We can consider only efficient and solvent banks as counterparties. Monetary policy can only be implemented effectively in a system made up of such banks. Furthermore, only efficient and solvent banks (including the non-bank Postfinance and the infrastructures for the settlement of payments and securities) can maintain efficient and secure payment transactions. The current bill for a comprehensive revision of the National Bank Law took this realisation into account. Overseeing the payment and securities settlement system is only one of the central bank functions spelled out in the Law. What is new, in particular, is the explicit requirement that the National Bank shall contribute to the stability of the financial system. By taking organisational measures, we already created better preconditions for fulfilling the expanded mandate in 2001. The Law and the organisation are moving in the direction taken by other central banks worldwide ever since they have increasingly identified the stability of the financial system as a necessary precondition for pursuing an effective monetary policy. In accordance with the revised Law, our close cooperation with the Swiss Federal Banking Commission (SFBC) will be further expanded. The responsibilities will remain clearly delineated, however.