adnan zaylani mohamad zahid : launch of life insurance association of malaysia's starter pack insurance fund keynote address by mr adnan zaylani mohamad zahid, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the launch of life insurance association of malaysia's ( liam ) starter pack insurance fund, kuala lumpur, 28 august 2024. * * * assalamu'alaikum warahamatullahi wabarakatuh and a very good morning. first of all, let me congratulate the life insurance association of malaysia ( liam ) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary and thank you for inviting me to be a part of this event. it is a pleasure to be here today for the launch of liam's starter pack insurance fund, as part of the golden anniversary celebrations. liam's achievements and contributions throughout 50 years of establishment, liam has played an integral role in the development and growth of the life insurance industry in malaysia. as a trade association, liam has bridged the collective interest of its members and also played an important role in addressing the protection needs of malaysians. liam's role has been central in driving the awareness and financial education initiatives on life insurance to promote greater financial resilience for individuals and households, through many initiatives, such as the establishment of the mycoverage website, liam's # bukanextra and # nofomo awareness campaigns, and collaborative efforts with akpk on the jelajah bijak wang. during the pandemic, let's not forget liam together with other industry associations, supported the needs of policyholders – establishing the mycovid19 testing fund during the early days of the health crisis. such efforts by liam and other stakeholders in the industry have certainly contributed to the awareness and takeup of insurance protection products. life insurance industry's achievements and challenges i am pleased to note that the life insurance industry continues to show commendable growth performance. in 2023, the industry recorded a double - digit growth of 11. 6 % in its new business premium amounting to rm13. 4 billion as compared to rm12 billion in 2022. this is driven largely by the strong performance in the take - up of group and investment - linked products. this also shows acceptance of life insurance products not just as protection but also for medical coverage and investment purposes. malaysia's life insurance penetration rate1 measured against the gross domestic

zeti akhtar aziz : role of central banks in emerging economies speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the svein gjedrem colloquium, oslo, 18 november 2010. * * * introduction central banks continue to be challenged with changing demands as the environment before us is rapidly being transformed. these fundamental and pronounced changes have prompted calls for a review of the role of central banks in the financial system and in the economy. frequently, such calls have been precipitated during a financial crisis, as was the case during the asian financial crisis and more recently during this current global financial crisis. however, such institutional reforms undertaken in periods of exceptional conditions risks influencing the nature and direction of the reforms. while the reforms following a crisis may address the immediate term demands, of equal importance is the medium and the longer term implications of the reforms. perhaps, an important lesson for central banks is that such reinvention and modernisation should be undertaken during the good times so that we will not be subjected to such changes during the worst of times. in essence, in such a dynamic environment, central banks need to continue to adjust and evolve to remain relevant and, thus, useful. it is my great honour to be invited to speak at the norges bank colloquium held in honour of governor svein gjedrem. let me take this opportunity to congratulate governor gjedrem for the achievements of the bank under this leadership during his twelve year terms in office. my remarks today will focus on the role of central banks from the perspective of emerging economies and more specifically in the context of central banking in asia as we confront the challenges in this rapidly changing global economic and financial environment. central bank mandates while there is no unique blueprint for the design of the institutional arrangements for a central bank, of importance is that it needs to be relevant to our own circumstances. but of importance is that there is clarity on the mandate, the governance framework and the areas of accountability of the central bank. and that needs to be supported by the empowering legislation to ensure that the central bank has at its disposal the capabilities to deliver the mandate. central banks in emerging economies generally have a broader mandate beyond the traditional mandates of monetary and financial stability. even within these traditional mandates, the role of central banks have varied considerably. in the mandate of monetary stability, it has ranged from having the narrow mandate of price stability to the mandate