, a region covering 2, 200 sq. km. located in the state of johor, in the south of peninsular malaysia. up to usd100 billion investments in the region are expected over the next 25 years. as at the end of april 2008, more than usd10. 4 billion of investment have been committed by investors, accounting for about 70 percent of the usd15 billion investment targeted by 2010. the targeted sectors identified for development in the region are financial advisory and consulting services ; creative industries ; logistics ; educational services ; tourism related services ; and healthcare. as an international islamic financial hub in the asian region with a track record of almost three decades in islamic finance, malaysia is well positioned to promote stronger economic linkages between our two regions. malaysia is not only already highly integrated to the asean region and to the greater asia, but also has own initiatives and exciting development projects. on that note, it is our hope that the malaysia country showcase be an engaging event for the business and financial communities from this region and the malaysian delegation. it is hoped that this greater engagement will lead to increased economic and financial ties between our regions. thank you.

. in relation to this, malaysia has become a centre for origination, distribution and trading of islamic bonds or sukuks. it is also becoming a centre for islamic fund and wealth management services and for international islamic banking business, and for international takaful and retakaful business as well as a centre for islamic finance education, training, consultancy and research. significant progress, in particular, has been achieved in the development of the malaysian sukuk market. the malaysian sukuk market has now evolved into the world's largest islamic bond market. at the end of 2007, it accounted for about 60 percent of the global sukuk outstanding which now amounts to about usd100 billion. the sukuk market has been an important source of financing for productive investment activities, while for investors, it provides great potential for diversification into new asset classes. the issuance of sukuk has not only become a means of raising financing but it also provides access to a wider base of investors, both islamic and conventional. the malaysian bond market has also been liberalised to enable non - resident corporations to raise ringgit and foreign currency denominated funds from our market. international issuers may thus issue multi - currency sukuks or alternatively have the flexibility to swap domestic currency funding into other currencies. stamp duty exemption for ten years beginning 2007 has been granted on these instruments. there is also withholding tax exemption on income earned by non - residents for investments in ringgit and non - ringgit islamic securities. with the growing maturity of the market, it has been able to efficiently manage significantly large size issuances. recently, a malaysian telecommunications company issued the largest - ever sukuk in the world market that amounted to an equivalent of usd4. 7 billion. though the size was large, the issue was two times oversubscribed, indicating the depth of the market. as an investment destination, the malaysian capital market offers a wide range of world class products. more than 85 percent of the companies listed on the stock exchange are shariah compliant, representing about 60 percent of total market capitalization. in addition, there are about 130 islamic unit trusts issued in malaysia. thirdly, there are two shariah - compliant real estate investment trust ( reit ) listed on the stock exchange a€ “ a hospital reit and an oil palm plantation reit. finally, asia's first islamic exchange traded fund ( etf ) was issued in january 2008 valued