accountability and transparency enhances its potential as a stable form of financial intermediation. there is also a growing recognition that the inherent tenets of islamic finance are aligned with the sustainable dimensions of ethical finance and responsible financing. as the new financial landscape emerges, it has also been accompanied by the development of ancilliary support services that include legal, accounting, taxation and shariah advisory. in addition, there is the development of islamic indices, information repositories and consultancy services. in the areas of human capital development there is a proliferation of programmes and certifications that focus on islamic finance. malaysia is committed in this pursuit and has put in place a comprehensive talent infrastructure in islamic finance with the aim of meeting the increased demand for practitioners by the global islamic finance industry. dedicated institutions of learning such as the international centre for education in islamic finance ( inceif ) and the islamic banking and finance institute ( ibfim ) have been established to focus on education in islamic finance. increased international connectivity and islamic finance despite the continued strains experienced in the economy and the international financial system, it is important to recognise the fundamental long - term global transformation that is taking place. in this recent decade, the concurrent rise of the emerging economies is resulting in a fundamental realignment in the global landscape. this transformation is characterised by the shifting balance of global economic strength to the emerging economies, with its significant implications on the global economic and financial flows. the international financial landscape will also be inevitably transformed with the distribution of financial centres becoming more dispersed. increasingly, new centres of financial activities will likely to emerge. in addition, financial system inter - linkages – particularly among the emerging economies – will deepen, supported by the increased global trade and investment that is already taking place. with considerable capacity to meet large investment requirements, opportunities therein lie in the more effective and efficient channelling of the bis central bankers ’ speeches sizeable surplus funds towards the vast productive investment opportunities within and across the emerging economies. these trends are being reinforced by the rapid expansion of financial institutions in emerging economies that have ventured beyond national borders. financial institutions from the emerging economies have grown significantly in size and strength in this recent decade to now account for almost half of worldwide financial industry market value. eight out of the twenty largest global banks, including the top two, are emerging market financial institutions. as the emerging market financial institutions continue to regionalise and internationalise, their role and importance can be expected to further expand. another key development is the

continued to show rapid growth momentum, and is increasingly being recognized as one of the major components of the overall islamic financial system. global takaful contributions amounted more than usd2 billion in 2005 and are expected to reach usd7 billion by 2015. the past few years have seen growth rates of around 20 %, indicating high growth potential in years to come due especially to the present very low rate of takaful market penetration. as for malaysia, a commendable track record of the takaful industry has been recorded since its inception more than two decades ago. for the first half of this year, the total assets of the takaful funds stood at rm7. 6 billion ( as equivalent to usd2. 2 billion ). this represents 6. 3 % of the entire takaful and insurance industry funds assets and an increase of 11 % as compared to the end of 2006. in terms of net contributions, rm1. 2 billion was recorded in the first half of the year, an increase of 36 % from the same period of last year. second, there is growing international consensus on the need to have a strategic direction for an orderly development of the global islamic finance industry. the ten - year blueprint on the development of islamic finance, a joint initiative by the islamic financial services board and islamic development bank, has laid down guidelines on the strategic steps to be taken by several specific jurisdictions for this purpose. it is envisaged that with more orderly development of islamic financial services, including takaful, a more comprehensive islamic financial system will evolve in more jurisdictions. the number of takaful operators, which currently stands at more than 100, is set to increase. third, dramatic growth of the global sukuk market can potentially become a key supporting factor for the strong growth of takaful and retakaful industry. sukuk is increasingly becoming an important investment avenue for the takaful industry. today, the global sukuk market, denominated in international currencies, is estimated to have exceeded usd50 billion [ including domestic sukuk issuance ]. although the size of the market is modest by global standards, the sukuk market is experiencing remarkable growth, increasing at an average rate of growth of 40 % per annum. issuance of sukuk with longer tenure will match investment and risk management needs of takaful industry with largely long term liability. this, in particular, will greatly spur the growth potential of investment - linked