Cooperation between the BdF and MAS has strengthened significantly, particularly since the opening in 2020 of the Asia-Pacific Representative Office, here in Singapore, which is one of the most innovative financial centres (with a strong Fintech sector), and a highly important region in today's world. MAS, BdF and ACPR have deepened and diversified their linkages across key and cutting-edge areas, such as (i) cybersecurity, with an international cyber crisis management exercise conducted jointly in June 2022, (ii) Fintech, with a MoU between MAS and ACPR, (iii) post-quantum cryptography, where ongoing work is joining BdF and MAS, (iv) green finance, with a milestone achieved together with the FranceSingapore Conference on Sustainable Finance in May 2022, and finally (v) tokenisation of finance, with Central Bank Digital Currency experiments involving cross-border payments. My warmest thanks go to Ravi Menon and MAS staff, and also to the colleagues of the BdF's office in Singapour, who have helped the strengthening our bilateral ties. I wish to also express my sincere and special thanks to François Haas for his proactive engagement for making this MAS-ACPR-BdF cooperation flourish. François was the right man in the right place to take up the challenge of launching and leading our rep office here, building notably on his former experience as head rep for the Americas. Your achievements François are all the more remarkable when considering that you took office exactly when in person, face to face, interactions, were hampered for a long while by lockdown measures.
Muhammad bin Ibrahim: Takaful industry at crossroads - a critical examination Remarks by Mr Muhammad bin Ibrahim, Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia (Bank Negara Malaysia), at the Takaful Annual Dinner and Awards 2018 "Takaful industry at crossroads: A critical examination", Kuala Lumpur, 23 March 2018. * * * Just last year, I addressed the insurance industry. The day after, the newspaper headlines screamed “insurance models broken”. And so, I was more than a little surprised to receive an invitation to speak. I could not resist it, and so I accepted. This evening, I promise to be no less critical of the takaful industry. But take this well, as the path to success begins with a critical examination of where we are today. We need to work as a collective. And also bear in mind that the takaful’s industry success is also our success. Let us start by reviewing the industry’s progress. Indeed, it has come a long way since its birth over thirty years ago. Its 1% market share in 1990 is now around 15%. Net contributions have grown 9% annually since 2010. These are achievements that we all should be proud of. However, before we celebrate, let us consider three issues. First, can the industry sustain the growth momentum as we move into the 21st century world of technology and innovation. We have set ourselves an objective but we are far away from meeting the target. The objective of 25% family takaful penetration by 2020 is admittedly, ambitious but achievable.