the bancassurance captured 45. 3 % of the new life insurance business premiums generated in 2005. through efficient cost structures of bancatakaful and with the entry of joint - venture takaful operators involving banks and savings institution with extensive nationwide branch network, the takaful industry should maximize the potential of this alternative distribution channel. finally, on the global front, islamic finance has made significant inroads and has achieved growing global recognition. another significant milestone in the progress of islamic banking and finance as recently announced by bank negara malaysia is the initiative to enhance the position of malaysia as an international islamic financial centre ( mifc ). with the vibrant domestic islamic financial industry that has become an integral component of the financial system, malaysia is now well positioned to be an international centre of origination and issuance of islamic financial instruments, fund and wealth management, islamic financial activities in international currencies and takaful and retakaful businesses. as at year 2005, the total gross contributions from takaful business outside malaysia recorded an insignificant proportion of the total contributions of the industry. the relatively low participation of takaful operators in international business, is however set to change with the recently announced mifc initiatives, to allow qualified local and foreign financial institutions to conduct the full range of islamic banking and takaful businesses in foreign currencies. it was also announced in the recent budget that attractive tax packages in terms of 10 year tax holiday are given to all takaful operators on their international currencies takaful business. in addition, mifc accords greater operational flexibility for the islamic financial institutions to conduct islamic financial services in foreign currencies from anywhere in malaysia. to ensure effective delivery system under mifc initiatives, the mifc executive committee, with bank negara malaysia as secretariat, has been set up to provide directions and drive implementation of policies and strategies to foster effectiveness and efficiency of the mifc. well capitalised and reputable financial institutions that possess sound track record are encouraged to set up international takaful operation in malaysia to conduct out - out takaful and retakaful businesses. the malaysian takaful operators should seize the opportunity to venture into out - out takaful business establishing an international currency business unit to offer takaful business in international currencies. ladies and gentlemen, in tandem with the rapid changes and expansion of the islamic financial sector, it is vital for us to have a strong, continuous support in talent management and

connected. to facilitate networking opportunities, a special section has been created on iclif ’ s website to cater for the activities of the alumni association. this would include the facility to disseminate information among its membership, including the publication of an alumni directory, highlights of important events and latest developments that may be of interest to its members. the centre will serve as the secretariat to support all activities undertaken by the alumni association. as we advance forward, the reputation, image and stature of the centre will depend on the performance of its participants and their contributions to the environment and the organisations they represent. iclif regards its alumni members as important and looks forward to your continuous support to building iclif into a regional centre of excellence for leadership development in financial services. while iclif has put in great efforts in working with leading international consultants and the best schools in the design and delivery of its leadership development programmes, we see this as an evolving process. in this context, we see alumni members as an important sounding board in providing feedback to enhance the relevance and effectiveness of iclif ’ s programmes. as beneficiaries of iclif ’ s programmes, the alumni members are the best intermediaries in making iclif better known to the industry. ladies and gentlemen, iclif leadership competency model one of the first initiatives by iclif upon its inception is to develop a unique leadership competency model that will analyse and enhance the understanding of what makes for great corporate leaders in the regional context. the competency model was developed through a participatory process involving strategic insights by industry leaders in the country and the region. this was achieved through behavioural - event interviews as well as benchmarking exercises based on literature research and the database of leadership competency models of world class companies. the preliminary model was further refined in a validation seminar attended by visionary and prominent leaders with proven track record of business performance excellence from both the private and public sectors. the model forms the foundation to guide the philosophy and drive the design and delivery of iclif ’ s leadership development programmes. i wish to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the industry luminaries who have given so much of their time in participating in the validation seminar for the iclif leadership competency model. let me share with you some of the interesting findings of the consultants in assessing our leaders based on the competencies identified in the model. among the positive findings of the exercise was the observation by