the significant volume of the bilateral cross - border trade and foreign direct investment between our economies. trade settled in renminbi currently only represents slightly above 1 % of malaysia ’ s bilateral trade with china. there is therefore potential for this to increase. in addition, funding and foreign direct investment activities in renminbi have also increased with bis central bankers ’ speeches the greater awareness on the use of renminbi for the settlement of trade and direct investment transactions and on the potential to raise financing by businesses. important to this initiative is the access to a wider array of portfolio investment avenues in renminbi. the availability of renminbi bonds and sukuk as well as other financial products for portfolio investment will not only encourage renminbi receivables, but it will also help to build a pool of trade - driven renminbi liquidity in the malaysian market. another important channel that would support the use of renminbi in trade and investment is repatriation as foreign direct investment in real sector activities in china increases. raising funding in renminbi has also emerged as a further form of business in the malaysian financial system. this has been the conventional channels by the banking institutions and the issuance of renminbi instruments in the bond and sukuk market in malaysia. malaysia is well positioned to realise this growth potential in renminbi bond and sukuk, given our market size and supporting infrastructure. malaysia not only has the largest debt securities market in southeast asia, but it is also a leading international centre for sukuk issuance. both markets are evolving as a multi - currency bond and sukuk market. as the renminbi market expands, more information would be needed to provide awareness on market developments. as we transition to using other currencies for trade settlement it will also require businesses to gain new expertise, develop new arrangements and to build new networks. let me now conclude my remarks. as asia, and in particular, china ’ s greater prominence in the global economy, a dynamic response is required in this new operating environment that is now upon us. one of the changes that will shape the international financial system in the years to come is the wider role of the renminbi in trade and finance. while existing international reserve currencies will remain to be important, this will represent an additional currency in the international financial system. this is an expected development as the world economy becomes increasingly multi - polar. in a more complex and more challenging economic and financial

accepted and adopted by the global financial services industry as a gold standard. with this, let me congratulate the board of fspb with this launch. in taking this important initiative forward it is necessary for fspb to reflect the business needs of the financial services industry whilst balancing the interests of the community that the industry serves. bank negara malaysia and the securities commission malaysia will continue to be committed in supporting this important agenda of the financial services industry. bis central bankers ’ speeches