those at the front office. it is therefore important for the islamic financial institutions personnel to enhance their own knowledge on the products and services offered, as well as customer service orientation. ladies and gentlemen, while the level of public awareness on islamic banking and finance has significantly improved, more efforts can be done to reach out to the wider population, in particular the sub - urban and rural areas. existing infrastructure must be utilized in an efficient manner to effectively disseminate information on islamic financial products and services including by leveraging on the information and communication technology. information can be in various forms, with the objective of enhancing financial literacy in islamic finance in our community. the advancement in ict has also had significant impact on the operations of islamic financial institutions with respect to information management systems, product development, risk management and distribution capabilities. significant application of it would enhance efficiency by bringing down costs for consumers and businesses. as part of our initiative for the extensive dissemination of information effectively and efficiently, bank negara malaysia has developed a website on the islamic money market. more specifically, the website aims to serve as a source of information on domestic islamic financial instruments. it would provide greater transparency of the central bank ’ s islamic money market operations, thus facilitating investment decisions and enhancing public confidence in their investments. the website also provides an analysis facility to chart historical data, in addition to reference to the rules and regulations in the conduct of the islamic money market transactions. it thus aims to effectively meet the information requirements of bankers, financiers, statisticians, economists, researchers and prospective investors as well as increasing awareness of both domestic and foreign users. moving forward, the website will be linked with other markets to serve as a platform for exchanging information and knowledge beyond our own borders. ekspo perbankan islam dan takaful adalah satu lagi saluran informasi yang menghubungkan institusi kewangan islam secara langsung dengan pelanggan. sehubungan ini, saya menggesa institusi kewangan islam mengambil kesempatan untuk memasar dan menawarkan produk dan perkhidmatan mengikut keperluan mereka. saya difahamkan, ekspo pada tahun ini turut disertai beberapa buah negara asing. sesungguhnya penyertaan mereka ini aka

zeti akhtar aziz : sustaining islamic banking and finance growth through effective dissemination of information speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the official launching of the islamic banking and takaful expo : “ sustaining islamic banking and finance growth through effective dissemination of information ”, kuala lumpur, 8 october 2004. * * * “ the domestic islamic financial system has reached an unprecedented expansion, successfully operating in parallel with the conventional financial system. the further development of islamic finance requires for it to be endowed with the right pre - requisites to perform as an effective, efficient, resilient form of financial intermediation that supports wealth creation and sustainable economic growth. at the heart of this effort is the necessity to meet the financial requirements of consumers and businesses. while significant progress has been achieved in the development of the overall islamic financial infrastructure, financial institutions and products that has been reinforced by the strengthening of the regulatory, shariah and legal dimensions, there has also to be the effective dissemination of information to promote greater nationwide awareness on islamic finance, to create a more well - informed society on the virtues and benefits of the financial services being provided. providing information and knowledge is thus integral in our endeavor to steer the development of the islamic financial system in malaysia. ” tuan - tuan dan puan - puan, saya bersyukur dapat bersama para hadirin semua di majlis pelancaran ekspo perbankan islam dan takaful 2004, anjuran persatuan institusi perbankan islam malaysia ( aibim ). industri kewangan islam di malaysia telah muncul sebagai satu komponen sistem kewangan yang berdaya maju dan berdaya saing, seiring dengan sistem kewangan konvensional dalam menyumbang kepada pembangunan dan pertumbuhan ekonomi negara. kini kita telah memiliki lanskap kewangan islam yang komprehensif, dan kejayaan kita dalam mengintegrasikannya telah menyumbang kepada proses pengantaraan kewangan domestik yang lebih progresif. sehingga kini, perbankan islam telah berjaya men