their dealings with customers. in a few months ’ time, the bank will be issuing an exposure draft on fair treatment of financial consumers which will set out heightened regulatory expectations for all players. agents will need to exercise greater care, skill and diligence in their dealing with customers. but rules and regulations are in themselves not sufficient to create a pool of agents trusted by customers : that would require all - round, holistic professionalism – an agent who is technically qualified, fully committed and uncompromising on ethical standards. to me, it is this integrity and calibre that will ultimately guarantee the continued success of agents into the next decade, more so than any other factor. faced with a more demanding and complex business environment, agents must continuously develop and equip themselves with skills and knowledge that are relevant, and that will continue to remain relevant well into the future. there are plenty of formal programmes available to help agents progress in their technical competencies. there is also a whole host of open online courses which can be accessed anytime, anywhere, with the desire to learn is the only prerequisite. it is encouraging that various professional training courses are already being offered through namlifa ’ s financial and life practitioners council, and that one of the programmes has been accredited by the financial accreditation agency ( faa ). going forward, i hope that we will see more industry - driven standards and protocols that will assure customers that they can only expect consistent, top - notch quality service from their agents – putting to rest any public doubts that may have been caused by the few “ bad apples ” in the sector. conclusion the three areas that i have just described will require, at its core, a strong willingness to learn and adapt. the uncertainties of the future may appear to loom large over the horizon. but if we take the time to consider the lessons of our past and circumstances of our present – which i am sure will be robustly discussed today – we are likely to be surprised by how much we already know of what we need and ought to do. in this regard, namlifa is well - positioned to play a proactive role in facilitating ongoing, constructive dialogues on important industry issues that will certainly demand a concerted response by all parties. new skills and capabilities must be developed, processes need to be redesigned, and assumptions need to be revisited. would the industry be better served were it to move away from the existing “ tied agent ” model? how should entry requirements and training offerings

asia has not only provided the impetus for the development of the domestic economies, but also enabled the region to emerge as an important economic bloc. a more recent phenomenon is the effort to promote greater regional financial integration through increased cross - border banking and financial activities within the region. financial institutions in asia are increasingly turning their focus to strengthening their regional presence taking advantage of asia ’ s enormous growth prospects. malaysian banks, for example, operate in 13 countries across asia, with total foreign assets expanding from only usd1 billion ringgit to more than usd100 billion between the period 2002 and 2010. our payment and settlement systems are also being linked to facilitate more cost - effective crossborder and efficient investment flows. efforts are currently underway to establish a pan - asian central securities depository alliance which will provide seamless accessibility to asian securities by international investors. the acceleration of regional financial integration in asia is contributing to the more effective intermediation of funds from the region to be channeled towards meeting the investment bis central bankers ’ speeches requirements of the region. over the next decade, asia ’ s projected infrastructure development expenditure alone will be twice the estimated savings within the region. this provides investors with new investment horizons and significant diversification opportunities. in charting the future for a more integrated asia, the developments surrounding the sovereign debt crisis in europe provides us with important lessons. despite having common rules and established institutional arrangements, achieving consensus and coordination have proven to be a major challenge in an environment in which there are also many national priorities. these differences in priorities become even more pronounced during a crisis. given that asia is a far more diverse region, a different approach to economic and financial integration is being pursued. the aim is to put in place elements that will facilitate the deepening of trade and investment linkages within asia while also collectively working towards strengthening asia ’ s resilience and stability. asia ’ s economic transformation, comprehensive financial sector reforms and fiscal prudence have provided important support to asia ’ s resilience and ability to withstand the destabilising spill - over effects of the current ongoing global financial and economic crisis. in addition, the regional surveillance mechanisms are being reinforced by financial support facilities and an integrated framework for crisis resolution. every financial crisis has prompted a review of the role, function and authority of central banks. indeed, developments in this recent four years have had profound implications on the central banks of crisis affected countries. the mandate of central banks for financial stability has generally been strengthened considerably to deal more effectively with risks in