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

recently, where e - payment usage in 2021 increased by 30 % from 2020, a doubling of the long - term average growth rate prior to the pandemic. 10. to sustain this momentum, we will continue to work with the industry and key stakeholders to further promote e - payment adoption through a coordinated nationwide e - payment initiative under the banner of " e - duit ", with the tagline " selamat, senang dan segera ". 11. the evolution of digital financial services opens up enormous opportunities to deepen financial inclusion and expand access to previously excluded and underserved populations. but these opportunities can only be fully realised if our society is equipped to use digital financial services effectively, responsibly and confidently. low awareness and trust, and limited digital and financial literacy, can become barriers to the adoption and effective use of digital financial products and services. 12. individuals, therefore, need to be supported to understand the risks associated with using financial products and services that are accessed through digital means so that they can better protect themselves against these risks. given the rate at which technology evolves, this can be daunting for the average consumer to keep up with which is also precisely why financial education is so critical. 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches 13. one of the more striking results from the 2021 fci survey is the low level of digital financial literacy observed, which is deeply concerning. one in three individuals surveyed stated that they would be willing to share their bank account passwords or pin numbers with close friends. this increases the risk of online fraud, including being used knowingly or unknowingly as'mule accounts'to perpetrate fraud. almost twothirds of individuals surveyed do not pay attention to the security features of a website before they perform online transactions ( such as to check if the page for making payment is legitimate and can be trusted ). as a result, individuals are far more likely to be deceived into providing their banking credentials through a fake website that enables scammers to use their information to commit fraud. using mobile devices and apps inappropriately has also led individuals to fall victim to fraud such as phishing, hacking, and data theft. 14. combatting fraud is a high priority for the bank, and we will continue to work with the financial industry, government agencies and law enforcement authorities to further improve banking and payment fraud incident response and recovery actions. alongside these efforts, increasing digital and financial literacy will