constructive. in this conference, the deliberations on shariah during the specialised workshops and the engagements between shariah advisors, would continue this process to enhance greater appreciation and understanding of our respective shariah practices. bis central bankers ’ speeches the development of human capital in islamic finance is another key thrust in our efforts to develop capacity in supporting cross - border islamic finance business. the collaboration between malaysia and indonesia in promoting partnerships in islamic finance education are already taking place to expand the pool of talent and technical expertise in islamic finance. strategic partnerships between the international centre for education in islamic finance ( inceif ) and 7 indonesian universities have allowed for the exchange of academic resources for the offering of specialised programmes in islamic finance. these crossfertilisation efforts are encouraging future collaboration between specialised training institutions from both countries which would certainly enrich the islamic finance industry. conclusion izinkan saya untuk mengakhiri ucapan saya. kewangan islam kini telah berkembang pesat di serata dunia dan menjadi komponen yang semakin penting dalam sistem kewangan antarabangsa dan merupakan pengantaraan penting bagi transaksi rentas sempadan. bagi malaysia dan indonesia, kewangan islam menyediakan peluang strategik untuk meningkatkan perkongsian bagi memperkembangkan lagi kewangan islam dan seterusnya merangsang potensi pertumbuhan kita bersama. berdasarkan hubungan yang kukuh antara malaysia dan indonesia, kerjasama dalam kewangan islam juga mempunyai potensi untuk memacu integrasi ekonomi dan kewangan masing - masing dengan negara - negara membangun yang lain. kewangan islam akan menggalakkan jalinan padu untuk mengukuhkan lagi kepentingan bersama bagi mencapai kemajuan, kesejahteraan dan kemakmuran yang diingini. let us take this opportunity to share the many possibilities that are before us. sekian, terima kasih. bis central bankers ’ speeches

##l demand for sukuks has been spurred by the high levels of surplus savings and reserves in asia and gulf regions coupled with a rising demand for islamic banking instruments from a growing muslim population in europe. apart from the issuance of a sovereign islamic sukuk by the government of malaysia, and the governments of dubai ( uae ), qatar, bahrain and pakistan, an increase in number of multilateral agencies are also issuing sukuks to finance development projects. these developments signify the key role of the sukuk market in facilitating the economic development process. significant progress has in fact been achieved in the development of the malaysian sukuk market, underpinned by strong collaboration among the government, regulatory agencies, players and investors. by early 2007, malaysia accounted for 67 per cent, or about twothirds, of the global outstanding sukuk amounting to about usd47 billion. malaysia is important for the global sukuk market, not only because it represents the largest sukuk market in terms of outstanding size, but also in terms of number of issuance which signifies a strong edge in market vibrancy. malaysia's strong performance in sukuk activities can be attributed to several key factors that may be similarly leveraged by other issuers and players participating in the malaysian islamic capital market. these are : ( i ) firstly, malaysia has the strong edge by having an efficient platform for sukuk issuance and trading activities covering the infrastructure and facilitative rules that contribute towards efficient price discovery and shorter time to market. the established legal, regulatory and shariah frameworks in the islamic financial infrastructure are key competitive advantage for malaysia. these initiatives have been reinforced by the supporting financial infrastructure including the settlement and bond information systems. there is no restriction on the use of proceeds, ability to use international rating services, ability to hedge positions and ability to swap issuance proceeds into foreign currencies. submission for foreign currency sukuks from qualified issuers with at least a single “ a - ” credit rating would be deemed approved upon proper filing of documents with the securities commission. ( ii ) secondly, malaysia also has an edge in product innovation. in 2006, the malaysian market continued to embrace innovative elements with the launch of sukuk using concepts such as mudharabah, musyarakah and ijarah. landmark issuance such as exchangeable sukuk musyarakah by khazanah nasional berhad, marked