•  Greece is preparing for a historic election that may well decide its future in the Eurozone. •  Spain is experiencing severe strains in its banking system against a backdrop of a sharp reduction in GDP, high unemployment, and a deteriorating real estate sector. •  Italy and Spain are facing higher sovereign borrowing costs that threaten fiscal sustainability. To be fair, Eurozone governments have been taking extraordinary measures to help stabilise the situation, reduce fiscal deficits, and restore growth. But they have reached a turning point where bolder, decisive actions will be needed to reverse the tide. The next few weeks and months will be critical. Islamic finance: challenges to overcome Let me turn now to the subject of our conference. Islamic finance has shown remarkable resilience during the last five years – perhaps the most challenging economic environment in the post-war era. The industry has grown by an estimated 20% annually in the last five years to reach $ trillion in total assets in 2011. Islamic banks have grown both in number and in scope. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  But the sustained growth of Islamic finance is in no way guaranteed. For Islamic finance to continue thriving, the industry has to overcome a few key challenges. But in every challenge, there is also opportunity. Let me highlight three of them this morning.
Against this background, it is timely that SEACEN Centre has initiated this course to explore the nature of financial intermediation, the role of financial markets in the allocation of resources and the need for appropriate regulatory framework. As regulators, we need to understand the concepts and the basics of the working, the pricing and trading strategies of the derivatives markets and instruments, how financial entities use them in risk management, as well as their potential impact on financial system stability. But more importantly, in these two weeks, we will benefit from the presence of a number of distinguished speakers that have kindly given up their time to be with us. I hope we will use this opportunity fully. On this note, I would like to thank Mr. Sunil Sharma, Chief, Asian Division, IMF Institute, for his efforts to coordinate this course with the SEACEN Centre and the Bank of Thailand. I trust that this course will be most fruitful and rewarding for all the participants, but above all that the interaction among yourselves will provide an opportunity for you to learn from one another, and strengthen the bonds of friendship that bind the works of our institutions for many years to come.