mohd razif bin abd kadir : islamic financial services industry – developments in malaysia speech by mr mohd razif bin abd kadir, deputy governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the signing ceremony of memorandum of participation for commodity murabahah house, kuala lumpur, 28 july 2009. * * * it is my great pleasure to be here today at the signing ceremony of memorandum of participation for commodity murabahah house ( cmh ). this event, jointly hosted by bank negara malaysia and bursa malaysia, marks another milestone in the development of the islamic financial services industry. this pioneering effort, mooted about two years ago, is a collaborative initiative of bank negara malaysia, securities commission of malaysia ( sc ), bursa malaysia and the market players under the mifc initiative. cmh, which is scheduled to be launched in mid - august, is a purposefully designed exchanged - traded platform to facilitate commodity murabahah transactions. it is the first internet based platform in the world with crude palm oil ( cpo ) as its underlying base commodity. i am also pleased to note here that cmh has received the endorsement of the ministry of plantation industries and commodities and is supported by the malaysian palm oil board ( mpob ), malaysian palm oil association ( mpoa ) and malaysian palm oil council ( mpoc ) as well as the cpo industry players. cmh will provide another dimension to the already robust liquidity management infrastructure of the islamic banking industry in malaysia ; thus providing market players with greater tools to manage their assets and liabilities. cmh is expected to unlock a vast potential of opportunities for the islamic financial industry. it can provide a wider range of new instruments not only for liquidity management and risk management purposes but players can derive additional linkages by utilising cmh to facilitate issuance of sukuk and in the creation of financing and deposit products. besides having the potential of providing wider product selections, cmh could create a more transparent and streamlined commodity transaction practices based on the concept of murabahah or tawarruq. leveraging on the experience of bursa malaysia in the area of exchange traded products, cmh is able to eliminate uncertainty in the transactions and could mitigate risks such as legal risk, market risk and counter - party risk. we are most grateful to the cpo suppliers for participating in this initiative. for cmh to be successful, it requires the cooperation of the players

nafta should also be understood as a production sharing agreement, helping north america remain competitive against fierce global competition. but for all of nafta ’ s benefits, greater economic integration has also brought about uneasiness. it has meant rapid change. it has also meant an uneven distribution of the gains. this transition to a more efficient allocation of resources has not come without costs, and the burden of adjustment has fallen on certain sectors and types of employment in all three countries. also, in this same period new technology has made many jobs obsolete. moreover, the complementary policies that were intended to cushion the effects on workers have not always worked as they were intended. nafta is a good policy. but it is subject to improvement. it is fair to say that, to some extent, policymakers have neglected its downsides for too many years. we took its early successes for granted. we have also neglected to extoll, explain, and communicate, its very real and very substantial net benefits. this has led to a growing resentment against nafta in some pockets of the population and the idea that reversing the integration of the region could somehow improve things for those who have found their world changed for the worse — whether by nafta or by other factors, such as technological change. the truth is, to turn our backs on the economic integration of north america — of canada, the united states, and mexico — would be extremely costly for all concerned. in nafta what we have is a framework for mutual cooperation. what i want to say is, it is important not to forget the need to work with other countries, to improve the value of our relationships with each other. and in nafta, this framework for mutual cooperation that we have, can be made better. it is my hope that in all three countries policymakers can modify, can modernize our north american free trade agreement so that its benefits are preserved and enhanced, and more people in the region can benefit. north america can be converted into the most resilient and prosperous region in the world. we have what is needed to achieve that, but we need to work together to accomplish it. many of you will be, or will influence, the policymakers attending to these issues. remember, the house has a good foundation. let ’ s give it the maintenance and adjustment it deserves. second : the global financial crisis in the 1980s the united states and advanced economies in general entered into a period