are critical to the future of the banking system : i. human capital investment ; and ii. forward looking leadership. human capital investment requires a new model : learning that adapts and is continuous the approach towards talent development and career learning is rapidly shifting. traditional learning systems are no longer sufficient. data from a recent study revealed that the “ ability to learn and progress ” is the principal driver of a company ’ s employment brand among millennials today. yet, only one - third of millennials believe employees are using their skills well, and 42 % say they are likely to leave because they are not learning fast enough. we must reinvent and modernise the existing model of human capital investment if we are to recruit, develop and retain 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches the very best of talent. prioritising and channelling greater resources to the talent development function are important first steps. currently, the average annual training expenditure for the banking industry is around 3 % of employee payroll, in contrast with international comparisons of around 4 % to 4. 5 %. the malaysian banking industry ’ s allocation for training and development is still below global benchmarks. it is, however, not enough to solely focus on outright spending. equally important is the quality of training investments. in my mind, this begins with transforming existing corporate learning systems to enable continuous lifelong learning and ongoing skill acquisition. the banking sector ought to have an “ on demand, ever ready ” learning system that empowers talent to take ownership of selfdevelopment. this means diversifying from the traditional form of structured learning that only takes place at rigid fixed intervals. aspiring talent ought to be empowered to personalise learning content according to individual preference and pace. indeed, knowledge should be accessible to all who seek learning. learning should take place at any time. learning should be democratised. the rise of innovative digital content providers such as coursera, codecademy and edx has further increased the viability and attractiveness of an “ on demand, ever ready ” learning system. edx, for example, includes over 130 economics and finance courses offered by prestigious providers such as harvard, mit and imf. in short, both the quantity and quality of human capital investment matter. agility is also a key aspect. human capital investment must adapt and evolve with its operating environment. the fintech wave has taught us an important lesson ; opportunity favours the bold and the wellprepared. more so in times of change. experience has

recipients today collectively contributed more than 80 % of the total loans guaranteed by cgc in 2007. in view of the changing facets of sme financing, cgc undertook several initiatives to further reach out to smes that are in need of financing. this includes the introduction of innovative products and services as well as widening the scope of guarantee beneficiaries by forging alliances with strategic partners. in the last two years, cgc has entered into strategic partnership with many local and international institutions with the aim both of expanding its sme outreach as well as to better equip itself with the expertise and knowledge to take it to a higher service delivering platform. as a result, cgc is now able to undertake some new business activities such as securitisation, portfolio guarantees and collateralised loan obligations ( clos ). these are aimed at raising alternative sources of funds as well as attracting medium - term funding from the capital markets for smes. cgc firmly believes that these exercises are also key drivers in the corporation's efforts towards achieving financial sustainability. the corporation has also identified a number of strategies to help it to achieve financial independence. of importance is the expansion in the product range that include capital market activities. in view of our commitment towards making cgc a financially sustainable institution, we have even gone a step further by working closely with our financial partners to ensure higher business quality. to encourage active participation, cgc introduced for the first time in 2008, a new award called the best financial partner award. the award acknowledges and recognizes the financial partner that contributed the most towards quality assets for cgc. it also recognises the financial institutions'conscientious efforts in ensuring that scarce funds are channelled to sme borrowers identified to have the capability and capacity to maintain good credit standing. the best financial partner award will be a regular feature in the years to come and we look forward to the active participation of all the financial institutions. in addition to the best financial partner award, another two awards were also introduced. these are the top islamic bank and top development financial institution awards to recognize these two categories of institutions for their contribution towards the overall business growth of cgc and the sme sector. these new categories illustrate our sincere acknowledgment of the financial institutions that have made significant contribution to sme development. we believe 2008 is an important year for cgc. foremost is that it marks the 36th year of the corporation's involvement in sme development. it