##h scholarship award and the shariah research grant for 2006 are still open to qualified candidates until the end of the year. apart from this, many other initiatives have been taken by the relevant bodies in malaysia to strengthen talent development at all levels in islamic finance. at the strategic leadership level, malaysia has established the international centre for leadership in finance or iclif as part of an effort to spearhead the development of a new generation of world class leaders in the financial services sector including islamic finance towards high performance and excellence. in the development of technical expertise, the islamic banking and finance institute malaysia ( ibfim ), the industry training arm, has played an active role in producing well - trained and high calibre individuals with the necessary skills in islamic finance. ibfim offers advisory, training and consultancy services on islamic banking and finance and organise seminars, workshops and conferences to create awareness and training to meet specific requirements of the industry. the programmes on offer include the fundamental aspects of shariah, islamic banking and takaful and risk management in islamic financing. ibfim has been working closely with the industry to ensure that their training and education programmes are tailored to meet the changing needs of the industry. ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, the future success of islamic finance will depend on the co - ordinated and concerted collaborative efforts of all stakeholders, namely the islamic finance practitioners, educators and researchers. in this regard, all parties should put in relentless efforts to continuously promote the development of islamic finance into one which is progressive, dynamic, responsive and sustainable. while the increasingly more competitive prevailing environment raises the pressures to produce immediate - term results, it is the investment in human capital and in research and development that will secure the long - term sustainability of the industry. with the grace of allah, and with the support of all those involved in islamic finance, it is our hope that inceif will make a meaningful contribution to the future development of islamic finance for the benefit of the ummah. in closing, once again, i would like to express our deepest appreciation to the yang berhormat dato'mustapa mohamed, minister of higher education for gracing this occasion and for accepting to witness inceif partnership with nine institutions of higher learning. thank you.

next year, an enhanced macroeconomic surveillance framework applicable to the euro area will also be implemented. this comprises the introduction of an early warning mechanism based on a scoreboard of predefined macroeconomic indicators. at the same time, the european commission will assume responsibility for using these indicators in order to identify potential macroeconomic imbalances and excesses, and then reporting thereon to the political authorities. the ecb is of the opinion that the current reform efforts in both areas are not sufficiently extensive. in fact, the governing council of the ecb considers that while the proposals tabled by the european commission may indeed go some way towards improving macroeconomic and fiscal surveillance in the euro area, they fall short of the quantum leap forward that is needed in the surveillance of the euro area and in order to guarantee the smooth functioning of economic and monetary union. as regards fiscal surveillance, greater automaticity of procedure and the definition of clear and binding regulations for reducing debt ratios are required. in terms of macroeconomic surveillance, clearly defined sanctions are necessary. efforts must focus more clearly on the most vulnerable countries ( those which have suffered from losses in competitiveness ), in order to ensure the sustainable effectiveness of the latest framework. moreover, the procedure requires more transparent and more effective trigger mechanisms. in the future, the stability of the euro, the stability of the financial system and sound economic and financial policies will need to be viewed as inseparable from one another. the monetary union was designed to be an economic and monetary union. what we need now is also the second pillar. bis central bankers ’ speeches the ecb has done what it can by pursuing a stability - oriented monetary policy, by keeping the value of money stable and by providing for crisis - related liquidity needs. the other policy domains mentioned are now called upon to shoulder their part of the burden and safeguard the stability of both the financial system and the single currency over the long term. a single market and a common currency also demand well - coordinated economic and fiscal policies. this calls for clear rules and mechanisms for monitoring these policies. allow me to now briefly discuss the three key areas which i consider to be vital to the longterm success of the euro. these elements are : a sound fiscal policy, sustainable economic growth and a stable financial system. 1. sound fiscal policy the soundness of public finances was to be guaranteed by the stability and growth pact. unfortunately, however, the rules of the pact have been ignored all too often – even