the european union at their summit in lisbon, where they set the new strategic objective of making the union the most competitive and dynamic knowledge - based economic area in the world. admittedly, general declarations of intent alone have never made anyone more competitive. in a comparative study, the oecd comes to the conclusion that the share of knowledge - based industries in germany is similar to that in the united states at over 50 %. germany ’ s highest growth in investment is in software. and, for creating a knowledge - based economy, it is undoubtedly a significant factor that the labour force in germany is generally highly qualified. that makes it easier to adopt new technologies. iv that takes me on to the question of whether the opportunities on offer are also actually being used. i do indeed have the impression that the necessary restructuring of the european economy is under way. the changes are perhaps most clearly visible in the financial markets, where europe is currently being confronted with a massive surge of initial public offerings on the stock market. more than 200 new innovative enterprises are now listed on the neuer markt and investment in venture capital in germany rose by dm 5 billion in 1999. a lot is happening at the moment on the mergers and acquisitions front. the process of concentration is going beyond national frontiers and traditional market segments, and is helping to open up the global market. operational efficiency is being enhanced. costs are falling. and resources can be saved at the macroeconomic level as well. since the mid - 1990s, when german industry ran into competitive difficulties due to the exchange rate, internal reforms have been taking place in german enterprises - in some cases, accompanied by a considerable number of redundancies. i firmly believe that german industry is now highly productive and competitive. what is sometimes also underestimated abroad is the extent of reforms in the public sector, for example, in germany. certainly, there is still a lot that can be done in that area. but what is occasionally overlooked is that large - scale privatisations of telecommunications, postal services, the electricity industry and the railways have taken place or are planned, and that industry is using the opportunities which this presents. v things are also moving in the field of fiscal policy - including in germany. the deficit ratio has been falling since 1997 - not least owing to the convergence criteria stipulated by the maastricht treaty. even though the public finance situation is less than ideal when measured against the objectives of the stability and growth pact, notable progress has still

encik abdul rasheed ghaffour : value - based intermediation ( vbi ) propelling islamic finance address by mr encik abdul rasheed ghaffour, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the value - based intermediation ( vbi ) dialogue, kuala lumpur, 24 august 2017. * * * over the years, finance has lifted the lives of many, enabled businesses to grow and helped to fund the construction of public infrastructure that we now depend on. yet, as the global economy transforms and society evolves, the question as to whether the financial sector is sufficiently serving the needs of the real economy continues to be debated. the evidence from the global financial crisis underlines the need for the financial sector to restore its balance with the real economy. there is a need to rethink, reassess and re - strategise the role and contribution of the financial industry. undoubtedly, there is an increasing expectation for the financial sector to deliver greater impact to the economy and society. i am pleased to be here with you today and be part of this important milestone in our islamic finance journey. the issuance of the value - based intermediation ( vbi ) strategy paper by bank negara malaysia marks the next step to realising the full potential of islamic finance. on behalf of the bank, i wish to thank all of you who have devoted time and effort to work with us in this important initiative. your input has been valuable in designing the strategies and approach to advance vbi as a key thrust in propelling the islamic finance industry further forward. today, i would like to share some of my thoughts on the concept of value - based intermediation. i will begin by giving an account of the achievements of our industry within the past decades. i will then touch on the role of vbi as a catalyst for growth with positive impact and the call for islamic finance to lead the way in realising the visions and objectives of vbi. islamic finance in malaysia has evolved and grown by leaps and bounds over the last 30 years. today, we have a well - developed and regulated islamic finance industry. there are diverse industry players, both local and foreign. prior to 2000, there were only two islamic banks and two takaful operators in the country with total market share and takaful penetration rate of less than 5 %. islamic banking assets have now grown to capture more than a quarter of the