We are seeing this concept more keenly being exploited in profit and risk sharing ventures, and Islamic fund and wealth management which are emerging as rewarding banking activities. Developing a pool of the required skills and talent, and putting in place of  4  BIS Review 55/2006  proper risk management systems and good corporate governance practices becomes vital to sustain the growth momentum of the industry. As we move towards the final phase of the Master Plan and into a more competitive landscape, we require robust financial institutions that are resilient, effective, efficient and well placed to serve the nation, and thus support sustainable economic growth and transformation. In the area of Islamic banking and finance, our aim is to be a leading international Islamic financial centre. To achieve this, we have to strengthen our position and focus our resources on achieving two broad aims. The first is to become an international leader in the origination, issuance as well as trading of Islamic capital market and treasury instruments, fund and wealth management services, offshore Islamic financial services, and takaful and re takaful . As a services sector, the robustness of the industry is a direct function of the calibre of the workforce in the industry. As such, our second goal is to position Malaysia as a centre of excellence for Islamic banking and finance education, training, consultancy and research.
On the regulatory front, a series of enhancements to the risk management regulatory framework has been introduced with the aim of promoting a more robust and comprehensive risk management practices within banking institutions. In addition, significant effort has also been put in place to prepare the industry towards the implementation of Basel II, which is targeted for January 2008 for the standardised approach and January 2010 for the IRB approach. The industry has responded well with various improvement measures that have been instituted, and investments made to enhance their systems and approaches to elevate their capability to manage risk exposures. This will contribute towards enhancing further overall financial stability, and towards the development of new products with better pricing of the financial services. The Islamic banking and takaful industries have been among the most dynamic in the sector. In terms of assets, the annual growth rate of Islamic banking and takaful averaged 19 percent and 25 percent respectively. In 2005, profitability of Islamic banking surpassed the RM1 billion mark for the first time, while its assets breached the RM100 billion threshold. As of end-March, the Islamic banking assets accounted for almost 12% of the total assets of the entire banking system. The takaful industry's assets stood at about 6% of the industry total. The Islamic banking industry has begun to maximise the competitive advantages of the Islamic banking concept of profit and risk sharing.