##uances. but it can be overcome if we look at the issue from a fresh perspective. another area is the underdeveloped repo markets and hold - to - maturity behaviours of asian investors that reduce liquidity, an important investment criteria for many investors. in addition, the non - uniform regulatory environment across regional markets pose significant resource and capacity challenges that prevent asean fixed income market to function as a single large market. these shortcomings add to the complexities and cost in investing in the region, thus making it less attractive to potential investors. collectively, there is much more that can be done. the capacity and capability of the domestic players need to be elevated and to enable them to efficiently facilitate regional investment by providing to would be investors up - to - date and comprehensive information and advice on credit, regulatory requirements and tax implication. equally important, they should be able to effectively offer ancillary services such as fx and interest rate hedging and securities custody services. more should also be done to promote the participation of domestic long - term investors such as insurance companies and pension fund into the region. through these measures the intention to recycle asian savings and surplus funds for the productive use of the region would be realised. malaysia has taken several steps to develop its market to facilitate cross border investment activities. over the years, we have liberalized foreign exchange administration rules to make it easier for domestic investors to invest abroad and for foreign investors to invest in ringgit assets. with this progressive liberalization, asean investors can now buy ringgit assets from the region or any part of the world. together with the malaysian securities commission, we have introduced a transparent and facilitative framework for the issuance and subscription of ringgit and foreign - currency denominated sukuk and bonds in malaysia. our efforts have resulted in a growing trend of regional issuers participating in our domestic market. a leading indonesian oil palm plantation company was the most recent issuer in malaysian domestic bond market, issuing myr500 million islamic securities, its second securities issuances. other asian issuers that have tapped the malaysian domestic bond market include two other indonesia ’ s palm oil plantation companies, a hong kong based global supply chain company, korean banks and corporations. as at september 2014, the total issuances by non - residents, including asean issuers, amounted to 58 issuances. this accounts to a total of myr20. 5 billion ( usd6. 5 billion equivalent ).

muhammad bin ibrahim : asean ’ s rapid economic growth and future potential opening address by mr muhammad bin ibrahim, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the asean fixed income summit ( afis ), kuala lumpur, 29 september 2014. * * * i am pleased to be here at the inaugural asean fixed income summit, which is hosted by bank negara malaysia, together with cagamas, the aci – financial markets association of malaysia and malaysian association of corporate treasurers. we have here today, an impressive gathering of senior policy makers across asean and senior representatives from major financial institutions and corporations operating in the region. i would like to welcome all of you to sasana kijang, kuala lumpur and to malaysia. today, we are in one of the most dynamic and fastest - growing regions in the world. based on imf ’ s forecast, world growth in 2014 and 2015 would be 3. 4 % and 4 % respectively. the asean region is expected to grow by 6. 4 % in 2014 and 2015. asean ’ s gdp is expected to reach usd3 trillion by 2017, tripling in size relative to a decade ago. with a diverse range of economies in terms of size, stages of development and economic structure, including home to many dynamic and emerging economies such as myanmar and vietnam, economic expansion in this region are expected to be sustained, and significantly outpace global growth. as asean continues to open up to global investors, foreign direct investment flows ( fdi ) is expected to accelerate. going forward, asean with a sizeable population of 618 million offers vast investment prospects as the economy is expected to grow strongly for the next few years. asean leaders have also embarked on an ambitious vision to create a single “ common market ”. realisation of this vision will lead to a freer flow of goods and services, capital investment and skilled labour across the region. many initiatives and measures have been implemented under the asean economic community blueprint since its launch in 2007 and many more areas of importance are being discussed and negotiated. like most regional economic community, asean aims to promote greater regional connectivity in which lessons of history in economic development had shown, would expand economic growth potential. data has also shown that intra - regional trade flows have already grown substantially among asean - 10 members countries reflecting the increasing phenomenon of freer trade with its neighbouring countries in recent years. consequently, the share of intra - regional trade has also increased, from 22. 5 %