1. I am grateful to Allah s.w.t for this great opportunity to address you  at the 16th instalment of the Kuala Lumpur Islamic Finance Forum  or KLIFF (KLIFF 2021). I would like to thank the organisers, namely Centre for Research and Training (CERT) in association with  Amanie Advisors, Association of Islamic Banking Institutions  Malaysia (AIBIM), Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic  Finance (ASAS), and Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir (HSK) for their  effort in organising this forum, which, being the 16th in the series,  has definitely become a prestigious event in the global Islamic  finance space.
    
2. The widespread multi-sectoral crisis from the COVID-19 pandemic  has been the main topic of discussion all over the world. Countries  have faced systemic shocks to their public health care, disruption to  their economy, decline in external demand, reversal in capital flows,  as well as volatilities in prices of commodities. The actual economic  fallout is hard to predict, given that factors surrounding the pandemic  impact economies in ways that are without any historical precedent  to guide anyone.
   
3. As such, despite over 14 trillion US dollars collectively allocated by  governments all over the world to reduce the impact, the IMF has  concluded a 3.5 percent contraction for the global economy in 2020,  from the impact of an estimated loss of 22 trillion US dollars from  2020 to 2025. Of more concern, is the approximately 90 million  people who are expected to enter extreme poverty by the end of this  year, with over 495 million jobs lost due to the pandemic. This has wiped out growth trends seen over the past two decades, increasing  the risk of uneven recovery and bringing about higher inequality and  socio-economic issues throughout the world. 
   
   

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim  

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.  

Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi  wabarakatuh.  

The digital workplace has gone from being a mere option into becoming an essential for most businesses of this generation. The need to engage and align with the rest of the organisation means we cannot avoid the use of technology in daily business operations. IDC reported that the Asia Pacific spend on the technologies and services that enable the digital transformation of business practices, products, and organisations was estimated to be $375.8 Billion in 2019, and it is expected to steadily expand throughout the 2017-2022 forecast period, achieving a five-year compound annual growth rate of 17.4%. 

Ultimately, the path to digital transformation continues to drive businesses to digitise processes and operations, ultimately empowering employees to communicate, collaborate, and produce with agility.