Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the local institutions have a duty to champion the nation's cause to take the Islamic finance industry to its highest possible level.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah said the local institutions have a duty to champion the nation's cause to take the Islamic finance industry to its highest possible level.

"It is now timely for the domestic institutions to begin investing for our new future," Ahmad Husni said at the Khazanah Mega Trends Forum 2010 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The financial services industry is one of Malaysia's twelve National key Economic Areas as well as a critical pillar in the country's trust forward, Ahmad Husni noted.

He also urged the domestic players to capitalize on the country's established brand name in the field of Islamic finance.

"We have built the platform but I am not seeing enough of our domestic institutions leveraging on it. Too many of our talents are abroad. We need to bring them home. We need to pay regional salaries in order to do regional business."

He noted that the capabilities of institutions such as Tabung Haji - one of the world's first Islamic fund management institutions - must be expanded by partnering with foreign brand names, if need be.

Ahmad Husni also said the expansion of the syariah-compliant asset management industry would give impact and add value across the financial sector.

The asset management industry, he added, can directly support as well complement a number of sectors including the takaful industry, private equity, mutual funds, private wealth management, trust and wakaf.

"The next 10 years will see the domestic financial industry transformed to support our national mission - building a services dominant economy," he added.

Source: Opalesque