zeti akhtar aziz : progress and advancement of islamic finance speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the islamic economy award 2014, dubai, 14 january 2015. * * * it is my very great honour to receive the lifetime achievement award for the global development of islamic finance conferred under the patronage of his highness sheikh mohammed bin rashid al maktoum. i am most humbled to receive this award. it has been my privilege to contribute to the international efforts to create the foundations for a sustainable and resilient islamic financial system in the global financial system. this recent decade has been highly challenging for the world of finance, yet the experience of confronting the challenges has been tremendously fulfilling. the overall progress and advancement of islamic finance has continued to be accompanied by growth, dynamism and stability. islamic finance brings immense benefits to the overall economy. it is a form of financial intermediation that is well anchored to the real economy. with its internationalisation, that began at the turn of the millennium, it now serves to enhance and strengthen the interlinkages between economies, facilitating international trade and cross border investment activities. this trend has marked the beginning of intensified collective efforts to enhance the islamic financial infrastructure to create a robust and resilient global islamic financial system. the focus has gradually shifted from strengthening intermediaries in the domestic islamic financial industry to fortifying the regulatory, supervisory, shariah and liquidity framework necessary for such a robust financial system. this has involved greater international cooperation and collaboration in this new environment. a further development has been the evolution of the domestic islamic financial markets into international markets. this has manifested itself in the form of foreign participation in raising funds and in investment activities in these markets, thus generating increased cross border financial flows. this has drawn participation from both emerging and the developed world in islamic and non - islamic countries. going forward, the islamic financial system is envisaged to have an increasing important role in connecting the world economies – through the strengthening of financial linkages, it will in turn facilitate increased international trade and investment activities. this internationalisation of islamic finance will require the intensification of international collective efforts to establish the international islamic financial architecture, and the development of mechanisms for more effective cross - border liquidity management. central to achieving this next thrust of development is to develop a high caliber and competent talent base to cultivate financial innovation. therein lies the investment needed

through strategic partnerships with training providers, actively contributing towards industry - wide efforts to support the training agenda and continuous improvements to internal learning programmes. this is also the option that is by far more challenging, but ultimately the one that provides the optimal payoff for individual institutions, for our financial sector, and the economy. the magnitude of the task, however, demands our collective efforts to secure a sustainable pool of talent that will serve both the present as well as future needs of the industry. the industry also needs to participate in the formal learning programmes by the institutions of higher learning. it is encouraging to note that several have volunteered following the recent dialogue earlier this year organised by bank negara malaysia and the ministry of higher education. by contributing towards positive reforms in the academic curriculum and providing other forms of practical support, the industry is making an important investment in its own future. to take this effort further forward, bank negara malaysia is initiating an extensive programme to train and prepare at least 1, 000 deserving graduates for immediate placements in banking and insurance institutions. this effort will be undertaken in collaboration with the industry and training institutes and is aimed at boosting the supply of well - trained and competent personnel for the financial services industry. the selection process will be rigorous, and the training programme will be designed to produce first grade candidates for employment at the management trainee level. it is also hoped that foreign financial institutions will draw on their extensive global network to support the programme. i urge the industry to lend its full support to this effort which will ultimately benefit the industry. collectively, these efforts will go a long way towards preparing students well for productive careers in the financial services industry and to provide a strong foundation for the development of the future generation of leaders and captains of industry. the second area relates to financial inclusion. strategies that are aimed towards consumer outreach and promoting financial inclusion will serve to increase access to financial services for all segments of society, promote more balanced growth, while at the same time, providing new sources of revenue for the financial industry. significant efforts have been taken to strengthen the elements that support financial inclusion. this includes various outreach initiatives, including the consumer education programme, development of small and medium enterprises, increased public accessibility to financial information and greater access to advice and assistance. part of this effort is the development of a sustainable and commercially - driven microfinance industry in malaysia. in malaysia, there are at least 435, 000 micro enterprises, but only 13 % rely on financial institutions for funding. of importance is