accomplishments over the last two decades in islamic banking and finance. the robust growth of islamic finance industry today augments the collaborative efforts within the industry to move in tandem to strengthen the position of islamic finance in malaysia. as islamic banking and finance in malaysia journeys towards global integration and international acceptance, there are key areas in the banking industry that needs to be enhanced to progressively support future development moving forward. of importance, is the need to effectively engage other stakeholders through various means and approaches including promotional activities and strategies. it is imperative that the approaches adopted to be dynamic and innovative so as to ensure consistency and relevancy with the rapid development of the industry. the kliifex 2006 is well - positioned to be the platform to effectively engage with key stakeholders ; i. e. consumers, relevant agencies, scholars and intermediaries. communication and direct interface with these key stakeholders will advance towards effective dissemination of information to promote greater awareness and appreciation on islamic finance to create a more literate society on the virtues and benefits of islamic banking and finance. the organising of kliifex 2006 has some embedded key values and essence that need to be strengthened moving forward. the most significant is the strong alliance among the players within the industry as well as with the relevant institutions including educational, training and research institutions, knowledge centres and other professional bodies in promoting the development of the industry. islamic finance will achieve greater heights with the collaborative efforts of all relevant parties, especially those outside the industry. the existence of these networks and linkages is a catalyst towards strengthening the landscape for future innovations and advancements in islamic banking and finance at the domestic and international fronts. the second essence of kliifex 2006 is the involvement of international players, particularly with the participation of foreign exhibitors in this year's event. as the cross border trades and international islamic finance activities intensify, strong interlinkages among the domestic and international players are crucial. leveraging on the significant inroads and growing global recognition enjoyed by malaysian players, this event will accord opportunities for the players to understand each other's strength and capabilities that would lead to more strategic alliance in the area of islamic finance. this is certainly relevant in our effort to enhance the position of malaysia as an international islamic financial centre ( mifc ). the players should seize the opportunity to increase interactions towards finding the right partners and exploring strategies and that are able to capitalise on tax incentives and other operational flexibilities accorded under mifc to position malaysia as an

asian economies have increased with an accompanying rise in cross - border financing activities. there has already been an increase in cross - border mergers and acquisition activity among asian financial institutions in order to reap emerging opportunities. the transformation in the financial landscape in the current environment has not been confined to the asian region but has also involved growing ties with other emerging regions. of significance is the rising trend of trade and financial linkages between asia and the middle east and other parts of the world. malaysian banks now have the capacity to take advantage of these trends. the trends towards regional financial integration also present significant opportunities to tap into the enlarged pool of savings in asia. besides institutional pools of wealth, the rapidly expanding middle class has been a key factor sustaining the high savings rate. in asia alone, we now have more than 2. 6 million high net worth individuals who collectively control an estimated usd8. 4 trillion in financial assets. these trends underpin the increasing demand for more sophisticated consumer finance and wealth management products. there is also potential to tap the appetite for growing international diversification among the more developed economies in asia, to meet the rising demand for regional financial assets. furthermore, the continued growth momentum in the region has created demand for infrastructure. it is estimated that asia needs usd 1 trillion worth of infrastructure investment over the next 5 years, offering huge potential for financing opportunities. third, reinforcing the move towards regional financial integration, authorities across the region have encouraged greater financial sector development and progressively liberalised their capital accounts. many regional countries are moving beyond financial restructuring to promote more diversified and vibrant financial systems that embrace a broad range of service providers and asset classes, including private equity, hedge funds, structured products and islamic finance. in malaysia, the gradual but progressive liberalization of foreign exchange administration rules undertaken since 2003 has led to significant benefits in terms of providing enhanced refers to japan ( rank : 2 ), china ( 4 ), india ( 10 ) and korea ( 12 ) based on 2005 nominal gdp in usd terms. gdp based on purchasing power parity ( ppp ). flexibility of the financial sector, contributing to reducing the cost of doing business as well as expanding the scope of activities of the financial sector. in april this year, several liberalization measures were implemented to further increase international investors'participation in the malaysian capital market, provide greater flexibility for resident investors to diversify into non - ringgit investments in malaysia and overseas, and to facilitate the expansion of the domestic banks'foreign currency business. fourth,