in today ’ s environment, training needs to be continuously changed, in some cases overhauled, to maintain its quality and relevance. central to this is the industry ’ s collaboration with and support for training institutes. the experience of practitioners who are experts in their field would enrich training programmer considerably. in this regard, the bank welcomes the efforts of the industry and the malaysian insurance institute to build bridges with academia through practical collaborations that aim to create a ready pool of productive talent. new approaches and programmes could be tailored against proven methodology implemented by some graduate schools. on the part of bank negara malaysia, the recently established financial sector talent council is collaborating closely with key members of the financial industry to identify issues surrounding talent gaps and formulate innovative proposals to address such gaps. another important area is to raise the professional standards of the industry that reflects the highest standards of professional conduct, knowledge and competence. in this regard, the grand design of the industry, the financial sector blueprint, clearly emphasized on the need to develop talents across all levels of an institution, spanning from the entry level to senior management and the board of directors. indeed, a holistic talent development and management is a good example of an initiative that combine art with science which a visionary institution must be able to master to achieve its goals. the second imperative is the ability of the industry to effectively leverage on technology to build strong, innovative and competitive businesses. this includes developing a deep understanding of how changes in technology impact people ’ s lives and transforming how consumers and investors behave and view the value proposition of businesses. for instance, mobile phone penetration in asia alone makes up 52 per cent of total global penetration. the highly developed telecom markets of asia with 3. 6 billion people across asia having mobile phones spread across a diverse range of markets, capitalising on mobile data / wireless broadband services would mostly likely chart the way of the future. growth across asia in high speed access to the internet by mobile wireless devices has been largely driven by highly competitive markets combined with a general population who are prepared to embrace new mobile technologies. as consumers embrace the digital era, insurers will need to rethink their distribution strategies and partner relationships as digital and remote options are rapidly replacing commonplace functions and tasks. digital technology can be deployed effectively to accommodate customers ’ priorities in ways that would promote customer support and loyalty whilst significantly enhancing the consumer experience and satisfaction. in many ways, the human capital and technology imperatives share characteristics that are borderless. we are living in

##ization and investment risk reserve are risk - mitigating elements to ensure the soundness in islamic banking business. the on - going work in the area of supervisory review process, market discipline, corporate governance and transparency will complete the range of the prudential and supervisory standards of islamic financial institutions. the increased participation in the ifsb from across the globe reflects the growing interest of the global financial community to be involved, at the onset, in the development of regulatory standards in islamic finance. in addition to these developments, regulatory and legal reforms are also being undertaken in a number of jurisdictions to accommodate the unique characteristics of islamic financial transactions to support the progressive development of islamic finance. following these institutional enhancements, the significant growth of islamic financial markets and the development of the supporting financial infrastructure, the international financial architecture for islamic finance has been strengthened considerably. established international financial centers have now included the development of islamic finance as part of their agenda. also emerging on the horizon are new islamic financial centers in which innovative and competitive islamic financial services industry is evolving. with the supporting comprehensive islamic financial infrastructure in place in malaysia and the diversity of islamic financial players following the recent increased liberalization in the islamic finance sector, malaysia is positioning itself as an international islamic financial center. key challenges ahead while islamic finance has made significant strides, there are key challenges that needs to be addressed for islamic finance to sustain its development in the global financial system. my remarks will focus on four of these challenges. the development of robust islamic financial system at the national level firstly, there is the challenge to develop a robust islamic financial system at the national level. the level of development of islamic finance across jurisdictions varies significantly. while in some, islamic finance is at an advanced stage of development, in others, more meaningful progress is yet to be made. to foster greater international linkages and cross - border transactions, the level of development of islamic finance needs to reach a certain threshold of development and sophistication. it requires the development of a robust islamic financial system which encompasses both the banking and the nonbank islamic financial intermediaries, the islamic financial markets, offering the range of islamic financial products that is supported by a developed islamic financial infrastructure. the formulation of the ten - year masterplan for the islamic financial services industry by the islamic development bank and the islamic financial services board, marks an important step in setting the blueprint for leading the development of islamic finance in a systematic and synchronized manner across jurisdictions to achieve the common goal of a vibrant and