It is also a pledge by the industry to provide the required support by allocating the needed resources in our endeavour to create and promote an internationally recognised Islamic finance professional body. Industry recognition to the bearers of CIIF qualification as highly qualified and competent professionals will give an added boost to the entity as it embarks on this important journey. Although CIFF is only being officially launched today, the entity has completed two guiding principles and two guidelines which will be launched today. These issuances will set the minimum requirements on the pathway of becoming Chartered Professionals and for financial institutions to become accredited institutions that would enable the training of staff as Islamic finance professionals. More is in the pipeline and I am confident that CIIF is committed towards developing the highest quality of guiding principles and guidelines that are in line with the current and future developments. Another bold action that we shall embark on is the transformation of The Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance (ASAS) to become the leading professional body for Shariah advisors. This transformation would further complete the Islamic finance service providers ecosystem. This is envisioned in the Financial Sector Blueprint, with standards to be set for professional programmes, qualifications and continuous professional education on Shariah. I would like to congratulate the Board and management of CIIF on its official launch. I am confident that CIIF can contribute towards higher professionalism for the Islamic financial services industry.

One step in this direction is to harness the ample immovable property of the government which presently may not be rendering an adequate return. It appears that the setting up of special purpose vehicles may be addressing in part this issue. Perhaps, however, we should go a step further by considering the establishment of a development bank which would utilise various assets of government that are presently underutilised as well as other sources of funding, on similar lines that exist in many EU countries, particularly Germany, where development banks at the regional level undertake very successfully a role in promoting the economy and assisting the government in social and environmental projects. Let me turn now to the domestic banking system. On taking on my responsibilities as Governor of the Central Bank of Malta, I actively involved myself in financial stability issues given my concern with financial markets overseas that were characterised by volatile trading conditions and the contagion effects of the sovereign debt crisis. There is no doubt that the impact of the sovereign debt crisis highlights the importance of ensuring a stable domestic financial system. In fact the case of Ireland shows us that imprudent bank policies can have devastating effects on the economy. In contrast, the domestic banking system played a crucial role in preventing a more severe downturn in economic activity after 2008, and in averting a sharper deterioration in public finances, because of prudent behaviour on the part of the banks in both asset and liability management.