participants in the mobile eco - system : the mobile operators, banking institutions, mobile device manufacturers, and payment service providers. equally important therefore, is the need for all the stakeholders to ensure that investments are channeled judiciously into the areas of greatest impact. strengthened collaboration in the key areas will minimise duplication and achieve greater resource efficiency. in this regard, there is a need to fully understand customer payment preferences. product offerings need to meet the expectations of increasingly discerning and sophisticated consumers of payment services. collaboration is also required in the area of education and outreach programmes to increase consumer awareness and public confidence in mobile payments. thirdly, regulators and market players must also share a common vision on the future mobile payment landscape in order to align strategies and interests to achieve holistic mobile payment solutions that will widen access to the retail payment system and thus achieve a critical mass of consumers. the network externalities and the social benefits of the wide adoption of the mobile banking and payment system provides justification for governmental intervention. the bank together with malaysian communications and multimedia commission will work towards providing the appropriate environment for economic development and to catalyse the transformation of the mobile initiatives. this will also include engagement with the market participants, payment service providers and industry players to collaborate in these important areas. finally, for mobile payment products to succeed and achieve widespread acceptance, we need to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety, security and reliability of mobile networks as a means for consumers to access financial services. indeed, mobile digital signature, which ensures the confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of payments initiated from mobile phones, is one of the ways forward towards building a secure mobile infrastructure that is conducive for the delivery of financial services. conclusion we are now operating in an environment where we have to do more with less. the point i would like to stress this morning is that in the pursuit of this cause, we have to learn to work together. we need to come together to decide how this cooperation can be shaped. i believe this symposium will contribute towards achieving this objective. in this regard, i hope that the results of your deliberations in this symposium will provide valuable input for the formulation of strategies and modalities for both the industry and authorities. on that note, i would like to thank malaysian communications and multimedia commission for this opportunity to share my thoughts on electronic payments. i wish you a stimulating and productive discussion in this symposium.

bank has at heart the best interests of the financial system as a whole. no country, bank or financial system can afford a systemic banking crisis. 5. internal management issues the sarb has had a clear commitment to the transformation of its staff complement and work processes over the past five years. i announced in my first address as governor at the ordinary general meeting of the bank held on 24 august 1999 that “ … a beginning has been made in drawing up a human resources plan which will deal with progressive employment equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunities and fair treatment ”. a year later shareholders were informed that the bank ’ s transformation plan “ endeavours to achieve a staff complement comprising a minimum of 50 per cent black people and 33 per cent females by 2005 ”. last year shareholders were informed that “ in keeping with the objective of transforming the composition of the bank ’ s staff to reflect the demographics of the country, an important milestone was reached in the past financial year when the total black staff complement exceeded the white staff complement for the first time since the inception of the bank in 1921 ”. as in many other areas of responsibility, the bank is also proud of the progress made with the transformation of its staff complement over the past five years. 6. conclusion indeed over the past five years, many challenges were faced head - on by the bank. important milestones were achieved and the stage is now set for further improvements in our work. of immediate importance is the achievement of the inflation target, maintaining banking stability and transforming our staff complement further. there are many more challenges ahead. thank you.