is to achieve the ultimate objective for islamic finance that will contribute significantly toward the overall development of our economies, through the intermediation process to facilitate trade and investment. moving forward, it is the ability of islamic financial industry to build key strengths and enhance institutional capacity, intensify the collaborative efforts to strengthen the effectiveness of the islamic financial infrastructure and the acceleration of its global integration that will provide the synergies and opportunities for the islamic financial industry in the face of this more challenging environment. in doing so, islamic finance can evolve into an important component of the international financial system that can contribute to enhance prospects for balanced global growth and shared prosperity.

##sb and the existing standard setting body embraced common objectives, l do not see any difficulty in integrating the international standards with the islamic prudential standards. this will contribute towards the development of a robust and resilient islamic financial system that can effectively preserve financial stability and contribute to balanced growth and development. this will also facilitate the integration of the islamic financial system as a viable component of the global financial system. over the years, the islamic financial industry has adopted the adaptation approach in the formulation of islamic financial products and services. although there are islamic financial instruments that are distinct from the conventional financial instruments, the numbers are still few. in most instances, the islamic financial products are repackaged along the features of the conventional financial products, while eliminating the elements that are not in - compliance with the shariah. while this adaptation can continue, the downside risk is that islamic financial instruments will always have to “ catch - up ” with the pace of product development in the conventional system. efforts should therefore be intensified to develop new financial products that embodied the virtues of islamic banking. this would evolve islamic financial instruments into distinct, innovative and cutting - edge products. innovative instruments such as the sukuk have attracted interest from both the islamic and conventional markets. one of the central issues towards developing a dynamic islamic financial industry is the shariah. the shariah should always be viewed as an enabler to innovation and creativity, rather than a constraint. on the contrary, innovation and creativity is strongly advocated. efforts therefore, need to be enhanced to fully appreciate and maximise the true potential and wisdom of shariah. thus, there is a need for greater collaboration among the shariah scholars, practitioners and researchers to undertake in - depth studies and research to originate products. this would provide the fundamental foundation towards developing a dynamic islamic financial system. an issue that needs to be addressed is the development of a pool of intellectual capital for islamic finance. the investment in adequate expertise for the development of islamic financial instruments and services need to be made. in this regard, there is a need for islamic financial players to intensify efforts in the training and development of expertise in the various specialised areas. such islamic financial programmes would benefit from a comprehensive approach, encompassing both conventional banking and islamic banking, complemented with shariah. the dynamism of the islamic financial industry can only be demonstrated through a pool of talent that possesses convictions and expertise in islamic finance. our quest to create a dynamic islamic financial system