First, it requires the active involvement of many different stakeholders, in particular Government agencies and very often a variety of NGOs, as well as financial institutions with specialized skills and knowledge. Second, the state of economic and social development of a society is an  BIS Review 88/2010  1  important determinant on the level and quality of financial inclusion. Third, what constitutes acceptable level of inclusion, in terms of access to finance, protection of personal rights and liberties, or assurance of retirement and healthcare benefits varies from one jurisdiction to another. For the reasons that I mentioned, there is no uniform global benchmark that can be used as a successful model for financial inclusion programs. Success stories and experiences are dispersed and often go unrecorded and to further the cause we need to reveals this situation. The financial inclusion agenda requires a systematic and internationally-recognized set of financial inclusion indicators that is meaningful and capable of assisting us in formulating developmental policies. Furthermore, enormous efficiency gains from the availability of such indicators can both reduce the cost of research and implementation as well as increase the effectiveness of the delivery and execution of the policies. Lessons learned in using financial inclusion data in the Malaysian context Let me to briefly share some of the lessons we have learnt in terms of using data to improve the policy formulation process, and develop a more efficient and inclusive financial sector.
Inadequate or inconclusive data in areas such as measuring financial literacy, consumer awareness and financial education means that it is difficult to assess the cost and benefit of the proposed policy framework and its impact on financial inclusion. Conclusion Allow me to now conclude my remarks. The successful implementation of policy work in the area of financial inclusion requires the availability of quality data. The fact that this area still remains relatively unexplored, compared to the availability of data for corporate business, financial markets and other more sophisticated aspects of finance, clearly suggests that much work remains to be done. The magnitude and scope of the topic also requires a diverse group of policymakers to collaborate on a long-term basis. The establishment of a working group to improve the quality of financial inclusion data is therefore most timely, and will benefit policymakers in making better and more informed policies, as well as tracking the outcome of policy initiatives. In addition, it may also serve to increase the visibility new issues areas which are currently not being given sufficient priority by policymakers. I would also like to encourage the working group to consider, in the longer term, the development of some form of a composite financial inclusion index. The composite index will  2  BIS Review 88/2010  benefit everyone by providing a broad measure of trends, facilitate comparisons between distinct segments and create a benchmark for policy work in financial inclusion.