of funding and that those excess funds could be invested in productive manner. perhaps, we should be patient in developing islamic finance, moving forward. patience does have its own virtue. i remember the days when the financing for purchases of houses are purely based on murabahah concept, but now we have musyarakah mutanaqisah, a structure that is very close to equity - based type of financing structure. conclusion malaysia since 1983 has established a comprehensive islamic financial system. we have suitable legal, tax, shariah, regulatory and supervisory framework institutions and the right talent to bring islamic finance to the next level of development. if there is a gap – we are in a position to fix that gap. but the world as you know it has never remained static, the agility and the commitment to change would determine the ability of malaysian islamic financial system to remain competitive and relevant. on that note, i wish you all the best and i am confident this forum will make a tremendous contribution to the overall growth in islamic finance.

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