market conduct measures focus on upholding principles of fairness and transparency, for instance, through requirements on disclosure to investors and a fair - dealing sales process. the second leg of the tripartite approach is to put the primary responsibility for sound risk management and oversight of each institution on the board and senior management, which must set the right tone and culture. the third leg is to promote greater awareness among investors of their financial needs, encourage financial planning and promote deeper understanding of the risks and returns of different products, through educational programmes such as moneysense. 4 the fourth pointer from the current crisis is the importance of preventing regulatory arbitrage, and ensuring a level playing field. with regards to islamic finance, in particular, mas seeks to ensure a level playing field between the conventional and islamic financial players. where the economic substance and risks are similar, the same regulatory treatment is accorded, regardless of whether the product is a “ conventional ” or “ islamic ” product. for example, singapore - based banks treat murabaha - based 5 asset financing as a credit risk exposure to the customer for the purpose of maintaining regulatory capital. as islamic finance grows, our regulatory framework must continue to evolve to maintain regulatory consistency in managing the underlying substance of the risks. international collaboration the fifth and very crucial point that emerges from the current crisis is the importance of international collaboration. as islamic finance grows, cross border transactions will multiply. we must therefore take an international perspective in preventing and resolving problems right at the outset. allow me to suggest three areas where regulators can work closely. the first area is that legal, regulatory and supervisory frameworks that are developed should be based on internationally recognised principles and standards. the work done by international standard - setting bodies such as the ifsb, idb, aaoifi and iifm 6 is instructive in this regard. for example, “ the ten year framework and strategies ” co - issued by the ifsb and idb is a thoughtful blueprint. aaoifi has also produced standards in areas such as accounting, auditing, ethics, shariah compliance and governance. today, the applications of shariah precepts differ somewhat in certain areas. it will eventually be desirable to have some standardisation to enhance consistency and to remove one source of regulatory risk. however, our goal should be to achieve a gradual harmonisation of standards and approaches to regulation, rather than immediate convergence. even in conventional finance, regulatory approaches and standards differ across different jurisdictions.

project bonds. we have also put in place a ppp framework to encourage public private participation in singapore infrastructure projects. with this, we have successfully tendered for the ite college west and the singapore sports hub, the first and the largest sports facilities infrastructure ppp in the world. we believe these initiatives will bring business opportunities for the debt capital market community based in singapore. singapore prides herself to have established the reputation of a trustworthy and reliable financial centre, build on political stability, strong legal system, and a sound regulatory and supervisory framework that raises disclosure standards, fosters market discipline, and provides for greater transparency. as a regional hub, singapore is also well connected to the rest of the world through our extensive network of ftas, including australia, india, japan, south korea and the us. over 600 local and foreign financial institutions based here are able to access the growing pool of investors and opportunities ; fueled by the strong performance of asset management activities in singapore. the diversity in the sources of funds flowing into and through singapore has also broadened, with increasing financial flows coming from south asia and the middle east. we have also taken the proactive and responsive approach to changes in the marketplace ; having constant dialogues with institutions and listening to market players, like yourselves, to create a conducive business environment for financial institutions to operate in singapore. as part of our efforts to offer a broad range of financial products and services as an international financial centre, we are also constantly reviewing our policies to ensure a level playing field for the development of islamic financing. beyond the financial industry, singapore is also committed to building a vibrant and cosmopolitan society that offers high quality of life with world - class facilities for education, healthcare, housing and recreation – an attractive city for global talents to work and live in. let me conclude. asia has made remarkable progress and i believe the outlook for the region remains positive. in the middle of difficulty lies great opportunity. asia will continue to develop strong and sustainable fundamentals in order to enhance the robustness of our financial systems for the asian bond markets to become a truly global asset class. on that note, i wish you a very successful and fruitful conference. thank you.