participants in the mobile eco - system : the mobile operators, banking institutions, mobile device manufacturers, and payment service providers. equally important therefore, is the need for all the stakeholders to ensure that investments are channeled judiciously into the areas of greatest impact. strengthened collaboration in the key areas will minimise duplication and achieve greater resource efficiency. in this regard, there is a need to fully understand customer payment preferences. product offerings need to meet the expectations of increasingly discerning and sophisticated consumers of payment services. collaboration is also required in the area of education and outreach programmes to increase consumer awareness and public confidence in mobile payments. thirdly, regulators and market players must also share a common vision on the future mobile payment landscape in order to align strategies and interests to achieve holistic mobile payment solutions that will widen access to the retail payment system and thus achieve a critical mass of consumers. the network externalities and the social benefits of the wide adoption of the mobile banking and payment system provides justification for governmental intervention. the bank together with malaysian communications and multimedia commission will work towards providing the appropriate environment for economic development and to catalyse the transformation of the mobile initiatives. this will also include engagement with the market participants, payment service providers and industry players to collaborate in these important areas. finally, for mobile payment products to succeed and achieve widespread acceptance, we need to strengthen consumer confidence in the safety, security and reliability of mobile networks as a means for consumers to access financial services. indeed, mobile digital signature, which ensures the confidentiality, authenticity and integrity of payments initiated from mobile phones, is one of the ways forward towards building a secure mobile infrastructure that is conducive for the delivery of financial services. conclusion we are now operating in an environment where we have to do more with less. the point i would like to stress this morning is that in the pursuit of this cause, we have to learn to work together. we need to come together to decide how this cooperation can be shaped. i believe this symposium will contribute towards achieving this objective. in this regard, i hope that the results of your deliberations in this symposium will provide valuable input for the formulation of strategies and modalities for both the industry and authorities. on that note, i would like to thank malaysian communications and multimedia commission for this opportunity to share my thoughts on electronic payments. i wish you a stimulating and productive discussion in this symposium.

and monetary stimulus on a global scale have begun to contribute towards a gradual improvement in economic activity in most countries. conditions in the domestic economy have also shown signs of improvement in the second quarter, with the decline in the industrial production index and in retrenchments being at a much slower pace. as labour market conditions stabilises and the business and consumer sentiments turn positive, and as this is reinforced by the accelerated implementation of the fiscal stimulus packages, the continued access to financing and the lower rate of inflation will cumulatively improve conditions in the domestic economy in the second half of 2009 and into 2010. signs of optimism have also started to emerge in the bond market. the recent narrowing of spreads between benchmark issuances and triple a rated papers indicate that risk aversion has now eased. in the primary market, new corporate bond issuance has increased by about 40 percent to rm28. 4 billion in the second quarter of this year. in the secondary market, the recent average daily trading volume has also increased by more than 50 percent. demand for higher - yielding securities are also beginning to rise ahead of the recovery in the global economy. in addition, in view of the prospects for an earlier recovery in asia, global investors in the current uncertain international environment will increasingly be looking at asian financial markets for investment opportunities. this trend is already being observed through the substantial inflow of funds dedicated for emerging markets since the middle of april this year with an estimated average inflows of usd 144 million per week compared to the net outflow recorded in the early part of the year. this positive trend enhances the opportunity for malaysia to further expand its bond market. timely issuance of corporate handbook by ambank the corporate handbook being launched by ambank today therefore comes at an important juncture in the development of the bond market. encapsulating the profiles of 100 conventional and sukuk issuers in the malaysian bond market, it is indeed a commendable effort by ambank to provide this comprehensive information to foreign and domestic investors to facilitate their investment decisions. on this note, i wish to congratulate ambank on the official launch of the malaysian corporate bond handbook and to all those involved in its successful publication.