6  BIS Review 59/2006
This working partnership paves the way for the financial services industry and the academia in Malaysia to work with the University of Nottingham, one of the top ten universities in the United Kingdom. The combination of academic excellence from the University of Nottingham and in-depth market knowledge of the financial services industry will spur greater innovation in financial services, leading to higher value added products and services. All of us can agree that the University of Nottingham is not new to us, as it is among the first foreign universities to establish a campus in Malaysia. It is also known as the university of choice by many Malaysians for its academic excellence and its forte in research. The University has also produced many prominent Malaysian leaders including the Deputy Prime Minister, YAB Dato' Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak. Ladies and Gentlemen, Top-tier financial institutions are known for their commitment in research and development to enhance innovation, especially in process and product innovation to drive competition. In the process, such financial players will be able to better position themselves to be part of the global financial community. Bank Negara Malaysia encourages and supports a strong culture of research and development in the financial services industry in Malaysia in both the conventional and Islamic finance. We believe that the encouragement and support is important to ensure a wider range of high quality financial products and services to meet the changing demands of a progressive and dynamic Malaysian economy.