remains a high - potential market for asian companies. asean - based companies should therefore invest more time and resources to evaluate these opportunities and assess the risks, so as to help fill this demand. in singapore, international enterprise singapore and the singapore business federation ( sbf ) have been playing a vital role in helping our local companies to understand and differentiate middle east markets better and to expand their regional footprint. 9. lastly, many leading middle east financial institutions have established a presence in singapore to offer financial services such as wholesale banking, treasury services, trade finance, and wealth management. these institutions play an important bridging role by guiding companies in the region to expand into the middle east and vice versa. bank muscat, the largest bank in oman, is the latest player to set up in singapore. sustaining the growth of islamic finance 10. as investors and businesses in the middle east and asia seek a wider range and diversity of financing options from banks and capital markets, islamic finance will have to respond to meet their rising needs. national and industry players have to work closely together to address the many challenges faced by islamic finance as it internationalizes into new markets. this morning, let me touch on just three issues, which i am sure you will be discussing in greater depth during the course of the conference. 11. first, there is a fundamental need for further standardization and harmonization of both regulatory and shariah standards across the middle east and asia. the greater use of standardized legal documentation will increase efficiency, certainty, transparency and liquidity. this would allow for easier cross - border offering of financial products that would reach a wider investor base and thereby bring about greater economies of scale and reduce transaction costs. standardisation will also enable better risk management by ensuring that risks are clearly identified and appropriately mitigated between financial institutions and their asian development bank, asian development outlook 2011 ( april 2011 ). economist intelligence unit, “ gcc trade and investment flows : the emerging - market surge ”, 2011. bis central bankers ’ speeches counterparties. shariah scholars and multilateral agencies such as the idb, accounting and auditing organisation for islamic financial institutions ( aaoifi ) and islamic financial services board ( ifsb ) are already working to address these critical issues. as a member of the ifsb, the monetary authority of singapore ( mas ) will work with them in their efforts to allow greater access to an even larger global community, including non - muslim countries. 12. second, we need to

first, the biggest impact of technology is to transform jobs rather than to destroy existing ones or create new ones. second, our strategy to help finance professionals must address skills, jobs, and careers in an integrated manner. third, workforce transformation must become a core business capability for all financial institutions. let me elaborate. first, the main effect of technology is to transform jobs rather than create or destroy them. go to any conference on technology and the future of jobs, and the most frequently asked question is : will technology create jobs or destroy jobs? the question misses the main point – which is that technology affects tasks within jobs rather than entire jobs. many of the jobs we have been doing all these years have not disappeared, but the tasks we do within jobs have changed substantially because of technology. and these new tasks require new skills. and this is what the e & y study also finds. data analytics and automation will augment one out of two job roles in the financial sector. in other words, workers will be able to deliver over and beyond what would traditionally be expected. while some rules - based tasks will be automated, data analytics and automation will amplify the importance of tasks requiring human judgement. the study also finds that one out of three job roles will be heavily transformed. this means that a proportion of tasks within these jobs will be substituted using data analytics and automation, and the remaining tasks will converge into new job roles that require more judgement, customisation and creativity. in some other cases, most of the tasks could become automated and these job roles could be displaced. the key take - away from all this : focus on tasks that will be affected by data analytics and identify the skills necessary to perform these new tasks. second, we need to look at skills development, job placements, and career pathways in an integrated manner. we cannot look at skills in isolation from job roles. and we cannot look at job roles in isolation from careers. in other words, skills are the engine that will propel career mobility – laterally or upward. this is why ibf took two important steps last year. in april, ibf began to facilitate the implementation of professional conversion programmes for the industry. then, in august, ibf launched, together with our tripartite partners, the ibf careers connect, providing career advisory and job matching services. 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches ibf is now the one - stop, single point of contact for all matters relating to jobs, skills