And the smooth operation of RTGS makes a vital contribution to the Bank’s overarching mission of maintaining monetary and financial stability. In April this year we celebrated the 25th anniversary of our current RTGS service. The service has been enhanced along the way with a number of technical and policy upgrades. We were the first major central bank to broaden access to RTGS to Non-Bank Payment Service Providers (NBPSPs), of which there are already around half a dozen that hold settlement accounts in RTGS. In April 2021, we introduced a new category of RTGS account for payment system operators – ‘omnibus accounts’6. These offer the benefit of settling in central bank money to a 2/6  BIS central bankers' speeches  wider range of payment system operating models. By doing so, we can support the industry in developing faster and more cost effective services, and the potential to enhance cross-border payments globally. But we want to do more. The time is right to drive yet further resilience and innovation through the RTGS Renewal Programme. Technology is changing, the payments landscape is changing here and abroad, and the demands of users and potential users are also changing. Industry engagement as a cornerstone to our joint success Just as the arrangement of Stonehenge takes the form of supportive structures, so too does the delivery and operation of the renewed RTGS.
Malaysia is also the host to a number of the international institutions in the area of finance that include the Islamic Financial Services Board, and more recently, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion. We are very pleased that SWIFT, an important market infrastructure service provider to the global financial community, has selected Kuala Lumpur as its Corporate Services Centre. Malaysia’s financial sector has in this recent decade made significant strides in facilitating the country’s cross-border economic linkages with other economies. Malaysia is part of a vibrant region, comprising ASEAN and of the greater Asia. The region has prevailing strong foundations and significant growth prospects with strong inter regional connectivity. Malaysia’s volume of cross-border trade and foreign exchange settlements with ASEAN economies alone has grown at an average rate of 10% in the recent four years, reflecting Malaysia’s increasing integration with the regional markets. A vibrant foreign exchange market has supported this growth, where the overall Malaysian foreign exchange market volume has increased by more than five-fold in a period of 8 years to USD11.1 billion per day, at a ratio of about 6 times of total trade. Like most regional blocs, the integration process for ASEAN seeks to promote greater regional connectivity which will in turn expand and reinforce the region’s growth potential. The aim of reinforcing the regional linkages in the payment and settlement systems is to enable the establishment of risk mitigation mechanisms such as Payment versus Payment (PvP) and Delivery versus Payment (DvP) to reduce the foreign exchange and securities settlement risk.