malaysia international islamic financial centre ( mifc ) and her royal highness, for gracing tonight ’ s gala dinner. our sincere appreciation to securities commission malaysia, for jointly hosting this dinner with bank negara malaysia, under the malaysia international islamic financial centre ( mifc ) initiative. since the introduction of the royal award for islamic finance ( raif ) in 2010 as a biennial event, it has given due recognition to three individuals. tonight, another individual will be awarded the 2016 raif, for outstanding contributions in the development of islamic finance. the islamic finance industry has continued to gain strength and stature, recording robust global growth of between 10 to 12 percent annually over the past decade. amidst a highly challenging global economic environment, the growth reflects the steady advancement and maturity of the industry in meeting the needs of the economy. as we progress into the new era of growth, our endeavour to enhance the vibrancy of the industry warrants a new way of thinking in the face of increasing competition and profound changes brought about by technological advancements. in facing these challenges successfully, one of the prerequisites is a pool of talent that is dynamic, adaptable and visionary. 1 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches in malaysia, we have invested substantially in cultivating talents equipped with the required skill sets and knowledge needed to compete, to think and to innovate. over the last three decades in our journey to develop islamic finance, a holistic infrastructural ecosystem devoted towards talent development has been conceptualised. to move forward, we need to continuously create distinct value propositions for islamic finance to chart into new areas of growth. in the case of malaysia, the need for a new breed of talent is pressing, as we embark on an ambitious target of 40 percent market share for islamic finance by 2020. the need is also evident at the global level, as many jurisdictions aspire to develop an islamic finance centre of their own. it is from this perspective that it becomes even more critical for us to nurture the right talents with the best minds to propel the industry into the future, that is estimated to grow its financial assets to usd3. 2 trillion by 20201. there is much we can derive from the lessons of history. historical evidence showed that islamic civilisation was driven by visionary thinkers and their propensity and ability to engage in vigorous intellectual discourses. indeed, many of the breakthrough thinking, concept and ideas were only possible because of the conducive environment that

zeti akhtar aziz : overview of scenario thinking and planning official remarks by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia and chairman of the international centre for leadership in finance ( iclif ) board of directors, at the iclif's seminar on “ overview of scenario thinking and planning ”, kuala lumpur, 5 october 2006. * * * i am very pleased to welcome you this morning to iclif's scenario thinking and planning seminar. there has been growing interest amongst corporations and policy makers in the usefulness of scenario thinking and planning as a strategic tool. in the current environment that is rapidly changing and highly uncertain with new risks emerging, we need to be better positioned to be prepared for the future. scenario thinking and planning may offer a solution to managing such situations. good scenarios have been used most productively by many multinationals to challenge perceived business expectations. scenario analysis and planning have also been extensively used by policymakers to ensure a state of readiness to respond to sudden or significant changes in the environment. scenario analysis and planning is particularly relevant to the financial services sector in which the pace of change has accelerated exponentially in this recent decade. unpredictable shifts in the environment have also heightened the uncertainty and increased the unpredictability of the future. thinking about the possibilities and probabilities thus becomes relevant. scenario analysis and planning offers a solution. scenarios however, are not projections, predictions or preferences but rather it provides a way of making sense of uncertainties and in addition it challenges our assumptions about what the future holds. scenario building today is synonymous with thinking broadly and more freely about a problem, enlarging the frames of reference and involving different worldviews, rather than seeing a situation from a single perspective. essentially scenario planning interventions have been most useful in supporting the construction of multiple frames of future states of possibilities. the process of scenario planning enhances the evaluation and integration of information and promotes contingency planning. scenarios are also important for risk management. as risk is inherent in any business activity the framework becomes a useful tool in risk assessment and management. most of all a major risk in the current environment is the lack of preparedness for how the environment might change and for the new challenges that may emerge. to attempt to predict these changes in any specific manner in this environment would be highly speculative. the risk management process therefore involves preparing for, rather than attempting to predict the change. this would promote an increased level of preparedness to cope