and efficiently. bank negara malaysia was appointed as the single regulatory and supervisory body for dfis under the act. in carrying out the regulatory and supervisory function, the central bank's focus is primarily to promote the development of sound and robust dfis capable of performing their mandated roles effectively. seven dfis are currently placed under the purview of the act. recognising the unique characteristics of each dfi, regulations and policies have largely been tailored - made to suit the different roles and functions of each dfi with the view of facilitating and strengthening their operations. in general, the dfis are required to ensure that their operations and activities are in line with their mandated roles, underpinned by good corporate governance and best practices. they are required t o operate with transparency, especially with regard to information disclosure on their corporate performance, in order to enhance credibility and to harness greater confidence from the public that they serve as well as from the government. strategies formulated have also been focussed on enhancing the clarity in the roles and functions of the dfis, with a view of minimising the overlapping of functions and increasing dfis'effectiveness in serving the targeted sectors. this has led to a number of initiatives to realign and enhance the strategic focus through the restructuring of selected dfis. one is the merger of the exim bank and mecib to enhance their synergy in export promotion. the 4 / 5 other important initiative is the rationalisation of bank pembangunan and bank industri, which will result in the establishment of an sme bank. the sme bank, a specialised agency dedicated to the promotion of sme development, will commence operations in october 2005 and is envisaged to better serve the needs of smes through the provision of a comprehensive range of financial and non - financial services. in particular, the sme bank will focus on nurturing the smes and promoting entrepreneural development, through the provision of financial and business advisory services, including financial management, business diagnosis and marketing support. recognising the importance of human resource development as part of the capacity and capability enhancement strategy, several initiatives have also been undertaken to enhance the skills of dfis, particulary in the provision of advisory services and micro financing. in collaboration with the japan international cooperation agency, bank negara malaysia is currently embarking on a project to enhance the capabilities of dfis in providing advisory services to the smes.

halal profits. towards sustainability : the role of islamic finance islamic finance value propositions not only are consistent with universal and ethical values, but the economic aspirations are to elevate our overall well - being. much of today ’ s discussion focus on as sustainable development goals ( sdgs ) and sustainable responsible investments ( sris ) that centre on impact - driven and value - added outcomes, in addition to being commercial2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches oriented. on this note, malaysia is at the forefront of innovation and thought leadership with the value - based intermediation ( vbi ) initiative that aims to create positive and sustainable impact to the economy, community and environment, without compromising the financial returns to shareholders. our vbi journey has hit several key milestones. to date, 12 islamic banking institutions have pledged to integrate environmental and social considerations in their offerings, practices and cultures. in facilitating this new journey, bank negara malaysia will continue to collaborate with the industry to create an enabling environment for smooth and orderly transition. these include the issuance of several guidance documents such as the vbi implementation guide, vbi scorecard and value - based impact assessment framework ( vbiaf ). more recently, the bank and the vbi community of practitioners ( cop ) have embarked on efforts to develop sectorspecific guides on value - based impact assessment alongside sectoral experts. to start with, the focus of these efforts will be on renewable energy, efficient energy, and primary commodities. this year also witnessed the launch of an islamic index - based investment scheme, which has embedded environmental, social and governance ( esg ) principles, and the launch of working capital financing for women entrepreneurs. in the same vein, the takaful sector is also moving towards integrating vbi elements, with the establishment of the vbi takaful task force by the malaysian takaful association ( mta ) to look into establishing a strategic roadmap on vbi implementation by the takaful industry. success of these initiatives require conviction and commitment by the industry leaders to actively pursue these as an important agenda for islamic finance. therefore it is imperative that the industry leadership to also support this with talent development strategies to equip the islamic financial institutions with the right talent pool. these include re - evaluating and refining the learning and development requirements, anchored at incorporating new learnings and more understanding of businesses that translate into value - added services to clients and addressing gaps in skills and competencies required to