easing, deleveraging activities, and financial sector resolution in the major economies. in addition, bis central bankers ’ speeches this has been reinforced by the building of buffers during the good times. financial intermediaries remain well capitalised with strong buffers, while the international reserves remain sufficient to deal with surges and reversals in capital flows. a more recent development in this decade is greater regional collaboration and cooperation. asia is well ahead in the areas of surveillance arrangements, financial safety nets, and crisis management. these frameworks and arrangements have been built up during the good times. information sharing and the establishment of regional arrangements and platforms, including the building of regional financial infrastructures and markets, are not only to facilitate the efficient intermediation of financial resources, but also to safeguard financial stability in the region. this trend paves the way for coordinated policy actions to manage and mitigate the risks and vulnerabilities to the region. conclusion the global economic and financial environment remains highly dynamic and uncertain. while emerging asia is unmistakably contributing to reshaping the configuration of the global economy and the international financial system, the fundamental underlying factors driving this global transformation needs to be continually reinforced. it will require our own continuous economic and financial transformation. most important will be to ensure the continued economic flexibility of the region to adjust to the rapidly changing global and regional conditions, the strengthening of the connectivity among the emerging economies in general and within the asian region, and to boost further the resilience of the region to withstand any destabilising developments. the asean economies have a distinct advantage. in terms of their economic flexibility, their size and stage of development provides the prospects of having greater agility to adjust to the rapidly changing conditions. in terms of the connectivity, the asean region is a highly cohesive region. historically, it goes a long way back to the 1950s. cooperation and collaboration are evident in most areas of economic activity and in the financial sector, in both the public and private sectors. policy - makers participate in several regional agreements and arrangements. the large economies have the opportunity to leverage on the potential synergies from a greater interface with the asean grouping. to realise the asian potential, continuing the transformative momentum and enhancing the cohesiveness of the region would not be complete without ensuring that the benefits of development is widely shared. experience has shown, even in the advanced economies, that when inequality is high and significant, instability follows. greater inclusiveness within economies and across

adnan zaylani mohamad zahid : leading in a disruptive world revolutionising takaful keynote address by mr adnan zaylani mohamad zahid, assistant governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the takaful rendezvous 2019 “ leading in a disruptive world – revolutionising takaful ”, kuala lumpur, 8 october 2019. * * * i am delighted to join all of you today at the 2019 takaful rendezvous. this is an important gathering for the finance and business community to exchange ideas on the opportunities and issues facing the global takaful industry. our backdrop today is of an economy and environment that has seen remarkable changes and challenges that emerge in just a short period of time. while we have thought the financial crises of recent times were safely behind us, the global and domestic economy has been beset with an escalating trade war that has rippled far. this has affected the trade and investment climate worldwide and could bring about large downside risks. malaysia ’ s economy will not be spared from this fallout. at the same time, we have a growing sense of urgency to deal with environmental challenges. globally, the focus is shifting towards climate change and sustainability. closer to home, we have just experienced an episode of the country ’ s now, alarmingly, annual haze seasonality. undoubtedly, each one of us can feel the impact and risks from environmental degradation on the quality of our daily lives. it will not be long from the time when we can clearly see its negative impact to the economy and financial stability. on a positive note, technology has transformed virtually every aspect of our lives – the way we interact with each other, consume our needs, follow the news, and navigate our movements. by 2018, more than half of the global population have become internet users. here in malaysia, almost 90 % of malaysians are internet users, and more than half of these users conduct banking and financial activities online. digitisation and technology adaptation is already making significant inroads in providing new solutions going forward and has become a key strategy for us to enhance financial inclusion and also protection. while this means financial institutions now have greater avenues to reach consumers, it also entails greater exposure to emerging vulnerabilities and risks such as cyber and technology risks. this needs to be properly managed, otherwise it can potentially trigger grave systemic consequences. in addition, there are also the gradual and structural changes that we cannot ignore.