zeti akhtar aziz : developing skills for a constantly changing environment governor's acceptance speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, for her honorary degree of doctor of laws from the university of nottingham, university of nottingham, malaysia campus, selangor, 21 january 2006. * * * it is indeed my great honour to receive this honorary degree from the university of nottingham, one of the premier universities in the united kingdom. it is particularly special to receive this award at the university of nottingham malaysia campus, being amongst the first overseas campuses of world - class institutions of higher education that have established a presence in malaysia. malaysia and the united kingdom have a history of close bilateral relations, reinforced by strong economic and financial linkages that span over a period of 200 years. this relationship is particularly evident in the field of education. the british are also known for being pioneers of strong cross - border higher education strategic alliances and partnerships. in malaysia, we have seen such joint programmes between local and british institutions of higher education since the 1980s. malaysia values this synergy and partnership with britain and continuously looks forward to opportunities to further deepen this relationship on a wider range of areas for the mutual benefit of both countries. significant new trends continue to shape both the global and our domestic economy. the modern world is experiencing continuous dramatic change. the significant dimensions of this change include the increased pace of globalisation, the emergence of new technologies and the increasing importance of knowledge as a defining factor in a country's performance. in particular, knowledge accumulation and its application lies at the core of a country's competitive advantage in the global economy. the traditional comparative advantage of abundant natural resources and low - cost labour are now becoming less relevant. it is for this reason that malaysia has directed significant resources and attention to human capital development, and in particular, to strengthen the intellectual capacity of our nation. as malaysia transitions into the next stage of development, the vital factor will be having the right skills, knowledge and expertise. if we are to make the quantum leap forward to become a high performance economy, we need to invest in our capabilities. this will become increasingly important as malaysia ventures into new, cutting edge industries and develops new areas of comparative advantage in this more competitive world economy. to compete effectively in the more challenging global market place that we face today, it will require significant investment in human capital. this is to enable the workforce to deliver superior high value - added products and services and adopt advanced

to our economy. ladies and gentlemen, today's seminar provides a platform for smes to widen their knowledge on the numerous financing arrangements offered by the banking institutions. take advantage and benefit from this opportunity. on this note, i would like to congratulate the association of banks in malaysia for organising this important seminar on " enhancing sme awareness on access to financing ". i wish you a productive and successful seminar.