The improvement over the last few years is the largest since the First World War. The level of our terms-oftrade has not been as high since the late 1940s. Sweden has experienced a decline in terms-of-trade. If we again compare terms-of-trade developments in Norway and Sweden, we see that the shocks to the Swedish economy have tended to be smaller. Challenges in a petroleum economy The current macroeconomic framework, most notably the fiscal and monetary policy regimes, has been quite successful so far in shielding the Norwegian economy from excessive fluctuations. The increase in income has not led to a pronounced rise in price and wage inflation. Businesses have become increasingly efficient in their use of resources, and the supply of labour has been ample. Nevertheless, in the face of such strong external influences, smoothing developments in the Norwegian economy is no easy task. Government revenues include large net cash flows deriving from oil, which gives us an economic base that is not available to many other countries. The size of the cash flow from petroleum activities varies, however. And if petroleum revenues were to be spent as they accrue, the result would be wider fluctuations in the Norwegian economy. Petroleum revenue spending also has an impact on competitiveness in Norwegian business and industry. Extensive and uneven spending of petroleum revenues would have a negative impact on exposed industries. The particular challenges of petroleum revenues can be illustrated by looking at the basic relationship between aggregate production, consumption and relative prices.

Singapore’s value proposition to Chinese companies I believe the Singapore Exchange will be committed to maintain a robust market-oriented framework, which facilitates organisations that would like access to global capital for their business expansion plans. To date, the Singapore Exchange is one of the most international equity markets globally, boosting 38% of international listings originated from a myriad of places such as the ASEAN nations, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, North America, Europe, and of course, China. Singapore welcomes Chinese companies to use Singapore as a second home, to pursue regional business opportunities, to build international connections, as well as a test-bed for new, innovative ideas. At a point where East meets West, Singapore today is home to 26,000 international companies. Of these, approximately 4,200 MNCs have regional activities in Singapore to leverage on the Singapore connectivity to service their clients from within the region. An increasing number of financial institutions are also using Singapore as a regional hub to conduct their investment, fund management and private wealth management activities. Singapore’s asset management industry has boomed and flourished, with assets under management surpassing $ billion. Closing The establishment of the Singapore Exchange’s presence in Beijing could not be more relevant, with the Chinese market growing at a strong pace, and as Chinese companies and markets become increasingly linked to the global community. The strong economic growth in China, Singapore, as well as the ASEAN region, gives us a window of opportunity to deepen and enhance market integration, strengthening Asia’s competitive edge.