zeti akhtar aziz : enhancing financial linkages towards economic prosperity joint opening remarks by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the joint high level conference on islamic finance : “ enhancing financial linkages towards economic prosperity ”, jakarta, 18 july 2011. * * * bank negara malaysia sangat berbangga kerana dapat bekerjasama dengan bank indonesia dalam menganjurkan persidangan bersama peringkat tinggi kewangan islam bertema “ enhancing financial linkages towards economic prosperity ”. fokus khusus persidangan ini ke atas kewangan islam dan perkembangannya di peringkat antarabangsa, telah memperlihatkan perkembangan pesatnya sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, yang turut menyumbang kepada hubungan ekonomi dan pertumbuhan kewangan antarabangsa. persidangan hari ini mempertemu peserta industri, penggubal dasar dan pengawal selia, serta ahli akademia dan pakar shariah dari malaysia dan indonesia untuk membincangkan peluang - peluang kerjasama. pengukuhan jalinan kedua - dua sektor kewangan islam kita bukan sahaja akan menyumbang dalam membangunkan serta mengukuhkan lagi industri ini, malah ia akan turut memanfaatkan secara optima sumber kewangan serantau dan juga meningkatkan keupayaaan untuk mengurus cabaran semasa dalam persekitaran antarabangsa yang sentiasa berubah. izinkan saya mengambil kesempatan ini untuk menyampaikan penghargaan kepada yang terhormat bapak prof. dr. boediono, wakil presiden republik indonesia kerana sudi menyampaikan ucaptama di persidangan pada hari ini, dan merakamkan penghargaan kami kepada duli yang teramat mu

evolution of the financial sector, with the aim of positioning the financial sector, including islamic finance, not only to become a catalyst to the transformation process, but also having the flexibility to respond to the key trends that are emerging. in essence, we need to evolve a financial system that best serves malaysians in this new environment. as the global financial services industry going forward strives to regain thrust and confidence, the starting point in asia is to build on the solid foundations put in place during the decade following the asian financial crisis. asia is seeing the payoffs from the financial reforms, institutional development and the strengthening of the financial infrastructure. while financial markets have become more volatile, financial intermediation has not been interrupted. while our starting point is from a position of strength, we must nevertheless draw upon the lessons from the current crisis. the lessons from the crisis must not be lost. this crisis offers malaysia and other emerging markets an opportunity to steer the future path of development of the financial sector to a stronger and more sustainable path one which avoids the trappings of greed and reckless behaviour that have significantly set back the financial sector in many advanced economies. it would be foolish of us not to take heed of these lessons and leverage on the opportunity to leap forward on a more solid foundation. despite these developments, going forward, the trend for liberalization will continue as financial integration in the region will intensify. this will mean greater foreign participation in terms of new institutional presence, strategic alliances and greater participation in our financial markets. efforts to develop further our foreign exchange market will be intensified. our financial links will also need to extend beyond the region to facilitate economic links with other emerging economies. on the domestic front, financial services to smes need to evolve from transactional and lending - based business to a full - service, relationship - based business. the household sector, already an important segment being served by the industry, will see further transformation with the continuing evolution of multi - channel distributions with online channels becoming more popular and increased customer demands for product transparency and overall service levels. we expect to see a re - orientation of processes and incentives towards value over volume, further differentiation in the management of customer - relationships and an increasing focus on technology - driven transformations that are more aligned with business strategies. the outgrowth of these strategies will include an accelerated shift in product offerings towards more comprehensive end - to - end financial solutions and further changes in the traditional roles of physical branches and intermediaries, with greater use of more