In terms of how to move forward I’d like to make three brief points before I close: First, the fact that we’re all sitting here in this room is a very positive sign. That so many leaders from major firms are here today, engaged in these issues, is a symbol of how organizational culture is moving up the agenda. The second is that the Banking Standards Board survey is a terrific tool for getting a snapshot of what your organization’s culture looks like and how it’s changing over time. It goes far beyond typical engagement questionnaires and provides powerful insights into the values of employees and the characteristics of an organization.7 It’s impossible to make progress if you don’t have an accurate picture of your starting point. The third is that when it comes to culture, I encourage everyone to look beyond their own lens of expertise. The Fed couldn’t do its work without the deep knowledge of economists, lawyers, and statisticians. But the solutions to challenges related to a firm’s culture are unlikely to be found if we keep our focus narrowly trained on our own specialties. We have so much to learn from experts in psychology, ethics, and management. 3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  That’s one reason I’ve been so looking forward to today’s panel discussion. It brings together experts from many of these fields, whose combined insights are the key to moving us all toward the business culture we want to see.
Placed in this context, it is sobering to note that for Malaysia, insurance merely accounts for 1.7% of GDP and only 5.8% of financial assets. Clearly, there is significant, untapped potential for the industry to increase its broader economic impact, and feature much more prominently in Malaysia’s growth story. However, this cannot happen unless the industry steps up its game and takes a more strategic view of its role in the economy – working much more proactively across 1/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  the industry and with relevant bodies and agencies. Take insurance penetration. It has been sluggish. Over the past few years, penetration (in terms of total premiums to GDP) for the industry remained low at 4.8%. Less than 40% of Malaysian citizens own a life insurance or family takaful policy. For the working population aged between 20 and 59 years old, this is higher at about 50%. There are at least another around 8 million workingage individuals and over 700,000 micro enterprises in Malaysia that need protection. Of these around 3.7 million are from the Bottom 40 income group. Another pressing issue is the role of the industry in supporting a sustainable and comprehensive healthcare system in Malaysia. Health expenditure is around 4.6% of GDP. In fact, the Malaysian medical and health insurance market has the highest average gross medical inflation. It was around 15.4% in 2018. It is expected to continue rising.