The programme entitled "The Malaysian Capital Market: Development and Regulation" began on 9 October 2000 and is hosted by the Securities Industry Development Centre (SIDC), the training and education arm of the Securities Commission (SC) of Malaysia.
The objective of the training programme is to provide an overview of the Malaysian capital market, with special focus on the regulatory and supervisory framework, market development efforts, trends, challenges and opportunities of globalisation and electronic commerce.
The participating countries are also expected to tap on Malaysia's experience in training and education initiatives, which are key components of efforts to raise standards of competency, skills and professionalism of regulators, market intermediaries and investors.
The training programme also includes visits to the various exchanges (Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange - KLSE, Malaysian Exchange of Securities Dealing and Automated Quotation - MESDAQ, Kuala Lumpur Options and Financial Futures Exchange - KLOFFE, Commodity and Monetary Exchange of Malaysia - COMMEX), the equities clearing house (Securities Clearing Automated Network Services - SCANS) and the central depository (Malaysian Central Depository - MCD).
The training programme is in line with the commitment of the D-8 nations to co-operate, consult and co-ordinate among themselves to address common challenges faced by developing countries. This commitment was made under the Istanbul Declaration, at the first D-8 summit meeting held in Turkey in 1997. Under this declaration, member countries agreed to take the lead in a number of non-exhaustive areas of co-operation. Malaysia's area is in finance, banking and privatisation. The other seven member countries oversee the following areas: rural development (Bangladesh), trade (Egypt), human resources (Indonesia), telecommunication (Iran), energy (Nigeria), agriculture (Pakistan), and industrial co-operation (Turkey).
This is the third time that the training programme for D-8 nations is held in Malaysia. The first programme in 1998 was hosted by the Ministry of Finance and in 1999 by Bank Negara Malaysia (Central Bank of Malaysia). The Economic Planning Unit is expected to host next year's programme.
