suhaimi ali : transcending boundaries - advancing takaful for sustainable growth keynote address by mr suhaimi ali, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the value - based intermediation takaful conference 2024, asian institute of chartered bankers, kuala lumpur, 15 october 2024. * * * this year is particularly momentous as we commemorate four decades of takaful since the enactment of the takaful act 1984. from a modest beginning, the size of takaful contribution has expanded nearly three times compared to a decade ago. players have become more diverse and products have expanded to address different needs of households and businesses. the industry has also demonstrated resilience against challenging economic and financial conditions, while continuing to scale up and improving efficiency in delivering financial protection. this progress is imperative to respond to the higher expectations that stakeholders have on the industry to better serve the protection needs of society. ahead of us, challenges remain significant – climate risk, ageing nation, cost of living pressures, advancement of technologies – all of which requires the industry to continue to innovate and be responsive to these needs. the adoption of vbit principles is crucial to better align and guide the industry's efforts to catalyse growth while contributing meaningfully to society. distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i am certainly pleased to be here, to see progress in the value - based intermediation takaful ( vbit ) journey that began five years ago in 2019. i am delighted to be part of this important occasion and witness the collective commitment by industry players to foster a more ethical and impactful approach to takaful. advancing value - based with clear demonstration of impactful outcomes as today's conference is focused on shariah values and measurements, i would like to highlight three imperatives that should guide industry's efforts to implement the vbit framework : first, is the diversity and inclusivity of protection solutions, with alignment to national strategies and aspirations ; second, is improvements to quality of services and conduct that reflects the fundamental values of shariah ; and third, is impact reporting guided by clear outcomes. diversity and inclusivity of protection solutions ladies and gentlemen, we acknowledge the ongoing exemplary efforts by takaful operators to improve financial well - being and inclusion. for example, expansion in the range of microtakaful 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches products catering to the underprivile

well beyond the end of the pandemic. 1. panetta, f. ( 2020 ), “ asymmetric risks, asymmetric reaction : monetary policy in the pandemic ”, speech at the meeting of the ecb money market contact group, 22 september. 2. ecb ( 2020 ), “ eurosystem staff macroeconomic projections for the euro area ”, december. 3. of recoveries ”, mimeo. 4. beraja, m. and wolf, c. ( 2021 ), “ demand composition and the strength according to a recent eib survey, some 45 % of european firms expect to reduce investment in 2021, while only 6 % intend to increase it. eib ( 2021 ), “ investment report 2020 / 2021 : building a smart and green europe in the covid - 19 era ” ; see also panetta, f. ( 2020 ), “ a commitment to the recovery ”, speech at the rome investment forum 2020, 14 december. 5. imf analysis of a sample of 13 advanced economies spanning 1990 to the covid - 19 crisis finds that, unlike in past recessions, 16 / 19 bankruptcies has actually fallen during this recession by about 30 %. see imf ( 2021 ), “ world economic outlook update ”, january. 6. chart 4 shows eurostat ’ s hicp index for comparability across jurisdictions ( including eurostat ’ s proxy - hicp for the united states ). the federal reserve ’ s target measure is inflation in the price index for personal consumption expenditures ( pce ). 7. in the euro area, the share of low - skilled workers in employment fell by 6 % up to third quarter of last year, while the share of high - skilled workers rose by 3 %. 8. bloom, n., bunn, p., mizen, p., smietanka, p. and thwaites, g. ( 2020 ), “ the impact of covid - 19 on productivity ”, nber working paper, no 28233, december. 9. in 2013, the european commission estimated that structural unemployment ( measured by the non - accelerating wage rate of unemployment ( nawru ) ) in the euro area would rise to 11. 6 % in 2015, owing in part to supposed skill mismatch. in 2019, after several years of strong demand growth, that rate was estimated at 7. 8 %. 10. a key feature