##fc community, there are also 14 islamic banks with international currency business units ( icbu ) and three international islamic banks ( iib ). to further entrench the islamic financial market, the government has recently announced a number of liberalisation policies to enhance global linkages and accelerate the realisation of the mifc agenda. the announcement includes the offering of two mega islamic banks licences, where they will predominantly be wholesale islamic banks undertaking to a large extent international islamic financial business. furthermore, two family takaful licences are being offered. for the existing islamic banks, the government is giving flexibility to increase the foreign equity participation to 70 % of shareholding. furthermore, 5 foreign legal firms will also be allowed to set - up operation in malaysia. today, with signing of the memorandum of participation marks the beginning of a new chapter in islamic finance. i would encourage each stakeholder, particularly bursa, to exploit the vast potentials of this new entity and take this opportunity to enhance research and product development capacities. going forward the long term viability of bch will depend on its ability to create a wide range of innovative product offerings that are endorsed by globally renowned shariah scholars and on the continuous strong support from the key stakeholders. on that note, allow me to congratulate the parties involved in today's signing of memorandum of participation – the commodity murabahah house, participating islamic banks and the cpo suppliers – for showing and giving your commitment to making the cmh a reality. also i wish to take this opportunity to extend my deepest appreciation to the team at bursa malaysia, bank negara and sc who had conceptualised the idea and all other stakeholders who have worked hard to make this noble initiative come true, insyaallah.

as this will greatly enhance the markets, products and liquidity. continuous dialogues need to be stepped up, and bank negara malaysia stands ready to provide leadership in this area. we have convened strategic dialogues among scholars within this region and globally. the next international dialogue will be held in november this year. to further promote talent, depth of research in emerging issues and greater product innovation, scholarships and research grants will be awarded. in this regard, the rm200 million shariah scholars fund that was established last year will be capitalised. on convergence of shariah interpretation, let me reiterate what the governor has said at the keynote address yesterday. the mifc will adopt a stance of mutual recognition and appreciate the differences in ijtihad or reasoning based on analysis and logical inference so long as it is approved by recognised shariah advisers. convergence should not be taken as a single step towards harmonisation of interpretation. at the same time, we must also allow diversity in shariah interpretation as to support product innovations to meet the needs of the industry. over the last two days, we have heard about the need to accelerate talent development, which is key to the future progress of the industry. in this respect, the international centre for education in islamic finance or inceif offers the world's first professional certification program in islamic finance. the response has been over - whelming. to complement talent development, a set of incentives will be formulated to attract the best foreign talents to work in the mifc. the adoption of best practices in the regulatory standard by the islamic financial institutions will be key in sustaining their soundness and resilience. in this regard, ifsb has developed the required regulatory and prudential standards, in which malaysia will adopt these standards, and continue to provide the leadership in the implementation of these standards. malaysia's strength in the islamic capital market can be further leveraged upon by issuers and investors as a platform for origination, trading and distribution of islamic financial instruments. the benefits of being a financial centre are tremendous. besides enhancing services sector contribution to gdp, it will create job opportunities, contribute towards promoting greater cross border investment and trade flows, better quality and diversified products and services, and strengthen further the global economic and financial inter - linkages among countries. malaysia has come a long way since it first introduced islamic finance in the 1980s. we are now embarking on the next stage of development. the mifc initiatives that were announced yesterday