providers of verification, review and rating services. these service providers are key in ensuring that sustainability targets being set by corporates are material, and to verify that financing proceeds will indeed be channelled to green and sustainable activities. some of them have established singapore as their regional hub to support corporates across asia in building their sustainability capabilities. harnessing technology to enable trusted sustainable finance flows the third key thrust of our green finance action plan is to harness technology to enable trusted and [UNK] sustainable finance flows. fintech has transformed the delivery of financial services ; it can be a game - changer in sustainable finance too. we call it green fintech. we are beginning to see interesting examples. https : / / www. mas. gov. sg / news / speeches / 2020 / harnessing - the - power - of - finance - for - a - sustainable - future 9 / 13 14 / 10 / 2020 “ harnessing the power of finance for a sustainable future ” - keynote speech by mr ravi menon, managing director, mas, at the finan … temasek has partnered the university of oxford on a project that uses satellite technologies to analyse climate risks for assets in the utilities sector. jp morgan is applying artificial intelligence to trawl through non - financial data like patent filings to search for keywords for potential sustainable investments. this year ’ s global fintech innovation challenge organised by mas is seeking solutions to specific challenges faced by financial institutions with respect to sustainability and climate risks. the fintech innovation challenge, organised as part of the singapore fintech festival to be held this december, has received close to 600 submissions from more than 50 countries. some of the shortlisted solutions are really interesting : an online do - it - yourself platform for small and medium enterprises to assess their environmental impact easily and [UNK] ; an ai platform matching institutional investors with a range of social and environmental business opportunities ; and an api - based modelling engine that utilises existing climate - related data ( e. g. weather pattern predictions, sea level, etc. ) to facilitate investment decisions. building knowledge and capabilities in sustainable finance the fourth thrust of our action plan is to build knowledge and capabilities in sustainable finance. we are encouraging financial institutions in singapore to grow their sustainable finance teams here. global banks and asset managers like ing, standard chartered and aberdeen standard investments have dedicated asia - pacific sustainable finance teams based in singapore. deutsche bank has recently located its asia - pacific esg head in singapore ; fidelity global ’ s head of steward

investment trusts ( reits ) are also using shariah - compliant structures for their financing needs. 16. we were honoured to host the 5th islamic financial services board annual summit in may. at this summit, mas issued a consolidated set of guidelines to provide greater clarity and certainty on how our banking regulations apply to islamic banking. islamic finance was also featured when the paris europlace international financial forum was held in singapore in october. we will continue to work with fellow regulators and the private sector to fine - tune our regulatory approach and to develop the infrastructure and talent to facilitate the growth of islamic finance in singapore. 17. as i mentioned earlier, bringing leaders in finance and business together to understand the developments in each region provides a valuable platform for collaboration. i am therefore pleased that mega events has decided to bring the first annual wibc asian summit ( asia wibc 2010 ) to singapore. islamic finance will provide an increasingly important bridge in the growing connectivity between the middle east and asia. singapore is pleased to help catalyse deeper relations between these two high - growth regions. asia wibc will provide a unique platform for industry players from more established centres of islamic finance to share their experiences. i look forward to welcoming all of you to the inaugural asia wibc in singapore next june. conclusion 18. in conclusion, the global economy is recovering gradually, though there remain many risks ahead. emerging economies are expected to grow well, but we need to tackle the many structural challenges. governments need to undertake structural reforms. the financial sector needs to facilitate the flow of funds into growth areas, and islamic finance will play an important role. by working closely to deepen risk management, and to enhance the ground knowledge in each region, we can contribute to sustainable growth. on this note, i wish you another very successful conference in bahrain.