13.12.2019  Welcome address Conference “Financial integration and inclusive development: A view from the Mediterranean Countries”/Banco de España e Instituto del Mediterráneo (IEMed) Pablo Hernández de Cos Governor  Good morning ladies and gentlemen, It is a great pleasure for me to welcome you all to this Conference on Financial integration and inclusive development: A view from the Mediterranean Countries, hosted by Banco de España and jointly organised with the European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and the support of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Let me start by thanking our colleagues from the European Institute of the Mediterranean and from the OECD for their cooperation in organising this Conference. The European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed), created in 1989 with the participation of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the Government of the Autonomous Community of Cataluña, and the Barcelona City Council, incorporates a broad representation of civil society and is a leading institution in the analysis of Euro-Mediterranean relations. In accordance with the principles of the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership's Barcelona Process, and with the objectives of the Union for the Mediterranean, the aim of the IEMed is to contribute to mutual understanding, exchange and cooperation between the different Mediterranean countries. And Banco de España is delighted to collaborate to this objective in the field of economic and financial relationships. Our second partner today, the OECD, is playing an invaluable role in the international arena to shape policies that are decisively contributing to the well-being for all.

It is no exaggeration to say that the world count on the leadership of the OECD in many fronts such as those that we are going to discuss today: financial inclusion, capital flows, migration, among others. This is the fifth edition of this Conference organised by IEMed, with the support of the Banco de España, to discuss economic and financial matters in the Mediterranean region. The first and third editions took place in Barcelona, in 2014 and 2017, the second in Rabat in 2015 and the fourth in Tunisia in 2018, on those occasions with the support and hospitality of Bank Al-Maghrib and the Central Bank of Tunisia. Past editions of this conference had provided useful exchanges of ideas between different actors with interests in the economic and financial developments in this region. I firmly believe that forums like this are particularly relevant to shape public policy in times of change as those we are witnessing today. The deep-rooted transformations in economic and financial relations globally force us to re-think the design of economic policies in order to better contribute to the progress of our society. In particular, these forums are instrumental for central banks in its role of providing guidance for economic policies that are not in their mandates. Let me add that in order to exert this role of assessing public policies, central banks need to be granted with political and operational independence, in order to provide recommendations free from political pressure or vested interests.