where you, as practitioners, play a vital role by professionally advising, educating and guiding your clients to ensure they are on the right track to secure a better future for themselves and their loved ones. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches a comprehensive and effective financial plan is crucial to help an individual or a family build financial resilience. financial resilience is critical in a time of economic uncertainty and in a shock - prone world. it provides households with the ability to withstand the negative financial impact in periods of shocks. having sound and resilience finances is especially critical in navigating through the current challenges such as rising cost of living and periods of low return on nonfinancial assets. and these challenges are on the back of depleting buffers for some of the households given the hardship experienced during the pandemic. importantly, beyond ensuring the ability to sustain their wellbeing in the face of financial adversity, strong finances allow individuals and households to take reasonable risks, to invest and engage in economic activities. it allows individuals to take opportunities for growth to achieve their full potential, and this not only contribute to enhancing their productivity and livelihood, but also add value to the nation. on this note, it is important to recognise the need for concerted efforts in supporting malaysians to build resilience as we emerge from the economic crisis. in tandem with efforts by the public sector, financial industry and other organisations, bank negara malaysia ( bnm ) is also committed to educating the public and, in inspiring and instilling sustained behavioural change through our financial education network initiatives. for those of you who are not familiar, the financial education network, or fen is an inter - agency platform of eight partners comprises two ministries and governmentrelated agencies including bnm. fen is committed in raising the level of financial literacy in malaysia. mfpc is listed as fen's partner that supports fen's initiatives. fen is focused on shaping healthy financial attitudes from a young age, increasing access to tools and resources to help individuals manage their finances, and working across the spectrum of society to help individuals attain financial security, through sound financial planning and by cultivating sensible financial habits. to date, fen has undertaken about 700 financial education programmes and initiatives, with more than 60 million interactions through its various outreach programmes. all these initiatives are part of a five - year national strategy for financial literacy plan developed in 2019 which, among its aims, is to empower malaysian

the financial sector blueprint 2022 - 2026 under the cluster of " finance for all ", which is having diverse choices for consumers, with most preferring digital solutions. we aspire for consumers to benefit from the availability of'digital first'solutions such as invisible payments, digitalised motor claims and smart contracts. beyond digitalisation, we aspire for consumers to be confident and capable of taking charge of their finances. towards this end, we are working together with other ministries and agencies in enhancing consumer protection reforms such as the enactment of the upcoming consumer credit act, the establishment of the consumer credit oversight board and the streamlining of the regulatory regime for financial advisors and financial planners. the world we live in today is ever - changing and fast evolving. we live in a world where, while life expectancy has increased, health and 3 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches medical risks have also risen. while income is growing, the nature of employment has also change from largely stable income, to more volatile due to the growth in the gig economy as well high tendency for labour mobility. although technology attempted to keep pace in managing the impact of climate change, climate - related events have also becoming more frequent. these are only some of the many dynamics that we are experiencing at a rapid pace today. what these underscores to all of us, is the importance of continuous learning so we can continue to adapt and evolve. i am sure the knowledge you have learnt in your respective courses will provide you a strong foundation as financial planners professionals. however, to keep pace with the changing environment you must have a lifelong learning mindset. it is important to keep abreast with the latest economic developments and continuously update your information set so that you are able to provide the most optimal advice to your clients. apart from providing information and filling the gaps in financial knowledge, financial planners play the important role of defusing biases that lead to common financial mistakes among consumers and help mediate in joint decision - making. this is especially true for vulnerable consumers who largely lack capability to fully understand and comprehend the risk - return assessments, not only of complex financial products and services but sometimes even those basic ones. one financial decision can have far - reaching consequences on their current and future livelihood. it is therefore crucial not to downplay the importance of professional advice in improving the quality of life and the wellbeing of individuals and households. in this regard, it is commendable that mfpc provides an evolving set of