abdul rasheed ghaffour : bankers without borders opening remarks by mr abdul rasheed ghaffour, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the report launch for east asia and pacific region - global financial development report 2017 / 2018 : bankers without borders, kuala lumpur, 12 april 2018. * * * thank you for inviting me to speak at the launch of this very important report. the issue of globalisation has featured very prominently in the headlines, especially in recent times. in fact, it has been very trendy over the past decade to herald the end of financial globalisation and international banking. however, the fact that this topic keeps recurring, to me, is a testament that various issues remain unresolved. as such, i am pleased that we are able to have an informed discussion on this issue today. for my brief remarks, i will focus on the theme of the report “ bankers without borders ”. finance and globalisation have been an important part of the asean story the title of the report, lends to a very specific definition of the word borders, the conception of finance unrestricted by national boundaries. conventional economic theory posits that capital will flow from capital rich to capital poor countries to fulfil the productive needs of the economy. this implies that any form of boundary is not only undesirable but may hinder growth. in fact, when we consider a broader view of economic history, the past few decades have seen one of the greatest reduction in poverty, and a major driver of this is the breaking down of borders between countries, that is, globalisation. this mirrors the experience of malaysia and the asean region. openness to trade and finance has been proven to be key in the development of our economies. asean ’ s openness, as measured by its share in world trade has reached almost 10 % in 2016. since 1990, asean intra - regional trade has grown from 18 % to 23 % of its total trade in 2016, while intra - regional investment activities have increased tremendously since 2000, from 4 % to 25 % of its total investment in 2016. the strong commitment towards greater openness is also enshrined in the move to realise the asean economic community. moving to the future, continued openness, integration and cooperation will be key for the regional economies to meet the challenges of the future. hence, the theme bankers without borders fits well within the asean perspective given the fact that the

in the past, there had been much attention given to the foreign currency business, in particular, the us dollar. however, admittedly, the fortunes of this business are often cyclical and subject to global developments. in an era of tighter us monetary policy going forward, we have to look elsewhere to grow our international linkages and business. ringgit business, in the onshore islamic financial market, is an option. regional currencies are also being developed as an option and in asean, this is gathering impetus with many countries that are progressively developing the crossborder markets, including through developments of local currency settlement framework ( lcsf ) that are enabling trade and investment in each other's markets directly. these will certainly also benefit regional islamic players, retail, institutional and corporate investors. ladies and gentlemen, our collective commitment anchored on these twin priorities, will solidify the regional contribution and positive impacts from islamic economies, financial intermediation, and capital market ecosystem. this is paramount to effectively respond to the emerging and evolving demands in asia. by leveraging on our readily available ecosystem and expertise, what we achieved in 40 years, can be a shorter journey for newer markets. success comes from taking many " small strategic steps ". together, we can realise the full potential of islamic finance in supporting asia as a global economic powerhouse. with that, thank you again to the organisers for inviting me today and i wish everyone a productive forum ahead. thank you. 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches 1 imf, regional economic outlook, asia and pacific, may 2023 2 a glimpse into the global halal industry [ 2023 ], the halal times, 24 february 2023 3 filling the finance gap for a green and inclusive recovery, asian development blog, 10 june 2021 4 rm350b - rm450b investment needed for malaysia to be net zero ghg emission nation by 2050, the edge, 9 june 2022 5 bnm, data as at july 2023 4 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches