robust pipeline of skilled human resources for the future. bank negara malaysia is committed towards promoting human capital development. the establishment of the dedicated ancillary institutions such as the islamic banking and finance institute in malaysia ( ibfim ), the international centre for education in islamic finance ( inceif ) and the international shariah research academy ( isra ) to focus on the area of training, education and research are aimed to meet this objective. we would like to see a higher degree of engagements by the financial institutions to meet the talent need of the industry. islamic financial institutions are encouraged to collaborate and engage with these educational institutions, with exchange of staff, attachments, and internships. in addition to these, is the strengthening of malaysia's international linkages with other financial centres in the area of islamic finance. recently, bank negara malaysia, under the mifc agenda, signed an mou with the uk trade and investment to promote the mutual development of islamic finance and business linkages. in this respect islamic financial institutions in malaysia are encouraged to leverage on the mou platform in building strategic partnerships with their counterparts to develop new value added activities and to expand the market. while these steps are being taken to strengthen our international inter - linkages in the area of islamic finance, islamic financial institutions in malaysia need to continue to strengthen their capacity and capabilities to meet the significant challenges of the current and future environment. on this note, i wish to congratulate public bank berhad on the official launch of public islamic bank berhad and for the commitment to contribute to the success of islamic finance. wishing public islamic bank every success in its endeavours.

financial crisis, wide - ranging financial reforms were undertaken to strengthen the financial systems of the region. the building of sufficient capital and liquidity buffers during good times provided the ability to support the continued credit intermediation process. improved regulatory and supervisory approaches, underpinned by enhanced governance and risk management practices, have enhanced financial stability in the region. enhanced surveillance arrangements and a wider range of policy tools have placed policymakers in better state of readiness to deal with problems in the financial system pre - emptively. macroprudential policies have also been extensively relied upon to mitigate the risks from excesses and imbalances in the financial system. continued efforts were also made to further advance financial sector development in the region. in particular, the development of the domestic bond market has served to reinforce the foundations for financial stability in asia. financial activities have also remained generally anchored by productive real economic activities. in addition to the region ’ s strong external position, high international reserves and more flexible exchange rates have also enabled asia to absorb and adjust to changing external conditions. the increasing cohesiveness of asia is also a core strength and source of stability for the region. steps have been intensified during this recent decade for greater financial integration. the motivation for greater financial integration is not only to unlock the growth potential of the region, but to achieve more effective and efficient intermediation of funds in the region, particularly by channelling the large surplus funds in the region to productive investments in the region. this would also support regional economic integration. while asia ’ s trade with economies outside the region has doubled since 2000, intra - asia trade has tripled. now, more than fifty five percent of asia ’ s total export is within the region. intra - regional investment activity has also increased significantly during this decade. it is important to recognise that the approach to a more integrated asia is different from that adopted by europe. in the early 2000s, a study undertaken by the asean ten economies concluded that the region did not have the preconditions for a single currency. a different route would therefore be taken to achieve greater integration. for the asean region, it would involve a sequenced liberalisation of the financial sector and capital account, and the development of regional financial markets and financial infrastructure including the regional payments and settlement system. this arrangement also allows for a gradual pace of integration to ensure domestic readiness and the flexibility to take into account the prevailing conditions and stage of development of the participating financial system. regional collaborative efforts also