model, microinsurance / takaful could become commercially viable, profitable and sustainable. based on microfinance information exchange market data ( 2009 ) by cgap, the data for microfinance providers ; profit margin 8. 43 %, return on assets 1. 5 % and return on equity 7. 27 %. microfinance or microbusiness will be profitable if the pricing is right, the portfolio size appropriate and strong risk management practices are put in place. on its part, the bank will issue a microinsurance / takaful regulatory framework to facilitate the provision of commercially sustainable micro products whilst offering protection to consumers. we have held dialogues on this, which i hope would lead to a positive outcome in furthering microinsurance / takaful as a significant business venture going forward. it is timely for industry players to review relevant methods as well as approaches in repositioning their value propositions to attract this segment of the population. a first major step forward that bis central bankers ’ speeches could be taken is to collaboratively launch nationwide awareness campaigns to promote the benefits of microinsurance / takaful to the public. the bank stands ready to provide appropriate avenues of support in rolling out this agenda. evolve in tandem with customer ’ s preferences and assist customers in the decisionmaking process industry players that can offer guidance to their customers will set the building blocks for developing long - term relationships. this is especially true in life insurance, where policies bought represent a long - term commitment. the industry needs to quickly comprehend changing customers ’ preferences and shoulder the responsibility of inculcating responsible consumer behaviour by expanding and deepening the scope of customers ’ education and awareness. through greater understanding of the respective responsibilities, disputes and potential conflicts could be minimised. balancing profitability with serving the needs of customers for long - term sustainability industry players that focus on short - term gains will not achieve long - term sustainability. the traditional view that the sole purpose of business is to make money the more the better is no longer a tenable view today. institutional logic now dictates that companies are more than instruments for generating money ; the value that a company creates should be measured not just in terms of short - term profits but also in terms of how it sustains the conditions that allow it to flourish over time. what this means is that industry players today should not be fixated solely on generating profits but rather investing in relationships with their customers. if the industry can meet the needs of its

##est pace of global trade growth since the global financial crisis. while china is also contending with moderation in growth during its economic transition, it continued to become the largest contributor to global growth. the gravity centre of global growth has for now, shifted to emerging economies, particularly asia. china ’ s slowdown is not all negative – as china ’ s economic transformation, through various efforts to restructure its economy and internationalise its markets, are important towards a more sustainable path of development. furthermore, a 6. 7 % growth rate is an economic performance many would aspire to. continued rmb developments as part of internationalisation effort china ’ s progressive liberalisation and opening up of its financial markets as well as the growing offshore renminbi market has led to a rapidly growing share of their global bond and stock markets. the trend behind the internationalisation of renminbi is underpinned by the greater importance of china in international trade, investment and financial linkages and this presents opportunities for china ’ s key partners, including malaysia. the rise of renminbi since 2009 coincided with china ’ s rise to become the world ’ s largest trading nation since 2013, with total trade of us $ 3. 96 trillion in 2015. the early regulatory and government incentives to promote the use of renminbi proved important towards achieving this. multinational companies ( mncs ), 1 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches particularly those with significant operations in china, have followed with steps to operationalise the use of renminbi in their invoices and treasury pooling system across subsidiaries. renminbi has now become the second most used global currency for trade finance, and the latest swift data showed that renminbi is now ranked fifth as payment currency, compared to 17th place five years ago. in the investment sphere, foreign investors now have multiple channels in investing into china ’ s market. apart from the qualified foreign institutional investors ( qfii ) program, china has granted wider access to the china interbank bond market ( cibm ), expanded the renminbi qfii ( rqfii ) program, and introduced the hong kong - shanghai stock connect ( as well as the incoming hong kong - shenzhen stock connect ) and hong kong - china mutual fund recognition ( mfr ) scheme. since 2015, eight countries including malaysia had been granted with rqfii quotas ; bringing the total available quotas to more than rmb1. 4 trillion. in addition, clearing banks across nine