Finally, I will place the challenges that face us within a long-term perspective. 1  Youssef Cassis, Les Capitales du Capital. Histoire des places financières internationales 1780–2005, Geneva (Éditions Slatkine, Pictet & Cie) 2005, 47–48. 2  Cf. www.ville-geneve.ch/histoire-chiffres/place-financiere/ and www.geneve-finance.ch/en-ch/overview/geneva -financial-center. 3  Cf. www.geneve-finance.ch/en-ch/overview/facts-figures. BIS central bankers’ speeches  1  Close interactions between the SNB and the Swiss financial sector As an independent central bank, the SNB’s mandate is to ensure price stability, while taking due account of economic developments in Switzerland. It also has the task of contributing to the stability of the financial system. Banks, and the financial sector in general, contribute to the prosperity of our nation. On the one hand, financial intermediation, wealth management and the various other financial services provided by the financial sector are vital for an efficient economic environment. On the other hand, the same activities create employment and value added, both directly and indirectly. They are thus a source of economic prosperity. The activities and goals of the SNB and the financial sector, apparently unrelated, are however closely interlinked. The connections between the two were particularly apparent during the recent financial and European debt crises. The SNB and the financial sector need one another, as I will now show (cf. chart 1). Banks need the SNB to conduct their various business activities, since the SNB acts as the bank of banks. First, banks use the currency issued by the SNB as the numeraire in their daily business.

Dear guests, The fact that the leaders of this Fund offered to present their financial services in the Republic of Macedonia, the Central Bank certainly encouraged and supported this initiative, shows that these important partners consider the Republic of Macedonia a friendly environment for launching various mutually beneficial business initiatives and projects. Yet, we do not forget though, that some of these institutions had no doubts whatsoever about the Republic of Macedonia even in the most difficult periods for us after gaining the independence, since when nobody else was coming, they were here. We certainly appreciate that. Regardless of all above, we still have many reasons that urge us to notice and convince others why is it good to invest in the Republic of Macedonia and to develop partnership with our economic agents and, of course, to inform on the activities that all of us in our country perform, directed towards increasing the attractiveness of the Republic of Macedonia as investment destination. Hence, we definitely need such financial offers. The economic growth could be accelerated by more investments, competitive offer of financial instruments and products, which are likely to eventually bring about lower costs for borrowing capital. The potential investors should be aware that the Macedonian financial sector is booming, but that the room for investments is yet to be opened. The gross national savings is low, not more than 12-17% of GDP, over the recent several years.