largely driven by increased domestic demand, and further spending on infrastructure to address present shortfalls and facilitate economic expansion. imf has projected asia to grow by 5. 7 % in 2013, and 6. 0 % the following year, exceeding the outlook for the global economy. 5 growth in asia over the medium term will be supported by continued urbanisation, favourable demographics and increased intra - asian trade and investment. second, multilateral islamic finance agencies are making steady headway in addressing issues that contribute to some fragmentation of the islamic finance industry. work by the ifsb in setting international standards and best practices for the industry is providing greater uniformity of regulatory environment for islamic financial players globally. the international islamic financial markets ( iifm ) is collaborating with isda and industry players to develop standardisation of islamic financial products, documentation and related processes that will facilitate cross - border islamic hedging, risk management and money market activities. efforts by the accounting & auditing organisation for islamic financial institutions ( aaoifi ), islamic “ the new silk road : asia and the middle east rediscover trade and investment opportunities ”, research department, kuwait china investment company ( kcic ), january 2011. ibid. “ economic growth moderates across middle east ”, imf survey, may 21, 2013. “ world economic outlook ”, imf, april 2013. bis central bankers ’ speeches development bank and malaysia ’ s international shariah research academy ( isra ) in research and fostering dialogue between shariah scholars from various jurisdictions are also narrowing the differences in views on shariah issues in finance. as work on all these fronts progress, this will encourage greater interest internationally to participate in cross border financing and investment activities. the prospects for cross - border islamic finance are already very bright. we are beginning to see cross border sukuk issuance within asia, as well as between middle east and asia. as early as 2010, malaysia ’ s khazanah issued a s $ 1. 5b sukuk in singapore, while japan - based nomura issued 2 - year $ 100m sukuk in malaysia. last year, taking advantage of favorable currency swap rates, singapore listed companies natural resources and golden agri tapped the malaysian ringgit ( mr ) sukuk market. in the last two years, two gcc firms, abu dhabi national energy company and kuwait - based gulf investment corp issued mr sukuk in malaysia. there is considerable scope to issue more

identify and address time - to market issues to further facilitate islamic finance activities in singapore. this includes looking into providing greater clarity and certainty in the regulatory and tax treatment to expedite the issuance of sukuk and other islamic capital market instruments. “ beyond borders : the gcc and asia could rev up their economies – and the islamic finance market ”, standard & poor ’ s rating services, sep 2012. bis central bankers ’ speeches the need to raise competency and develop talent to support the growth of the industry cannot be overstated. singapore management university ( smu ) has successfully completed its first masters programme in islamic law and finance ; and smu has reiterated its commitment to support efforts at growing the human capital for the islamic finance industry. industry players here have formed the gulf asia shari ’ ah compliant investments association ( gascia ) to promote and undertake initiatives to further grow the industry. recently, a gascia member introduced islamic finance training to a leading local madrasah to increase the students ’ awareness and promote interest in pursuing a career in the industry. mas will continue to work with industry players and training providers to ensure that we have a ready supply of talent to meet the needs of the industry as it continues to grow. conclusion singapore ’ s success as an international financial sector stems from its high standards of regulation ; deep and liquid capital market, the presence of international buy side players, and a critical mass of financial intermediaries with expertise to address a wide range of financing needs. we will leverage on these strengths to further support the growth of islamic finance. the growing and deepening linkages between asia and the middle east will present significant opportunities. i am pleased to see more players from the middle east, asia and other regions at today ’ s conference. i hope you will take advantage of this event to explore new ideas to spur the further growth of cross border islamic financing transactions between our two regions, and globally. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches