Under such an approach, individual countries will have the necessary degree of flexibility to tailor national implementation approaches to reflect the specific characteristics of their respective economies, while committing to uphold the essential regulatory and supervisory principles that underpin financial stability. With Asia’s varied experience in weathering financial crises, in developing our financial systems and in implementing the various regulatory reforms, valuable lessons can be drawn from the region to advance the progress and development of our respective financial systems and of the region as a whole. SEACEN has had an instrumental role for more than 30 years in the efforts to share this knowledge and experience widely among its members through providing a platform for such information sharing and through its research, training and capacity building initiatives. Today, SEACEN takes yet another important step forward in advancing this agenda with the launch of the SEACEN Financial Stability Journal. We live in a world in which the management of financial stability is a highly complex undertaking, and its dimensions have continued to evolve in an environment that is rapidly changing. It is hoped that the Journal will contribute ideas, perspectives and insights and thus generate the intellectual dialogue and discourse on financial stability issues. As a region, Asia has many unique perspectives and experiences to share with others facing similar challenges in managing financial stability. I congratulate the SEACEN Centre on this important initiative. I wish it every success and look forward to contributions from SEACEN members and from the other parts of the world.

Asia’s young and increasingly urban and increasingly more affluent population, supported with policy initiatives to strengthen social safety nets – including for healthcare and retirement – will further enhance domestic demand in the region. This will further unlock our trade and growth potential. Our diversity also continues to be an important source of strength for the region. The complementarities between the economies in the region provide significant opportunities for greater shared prosperity and mutually reinforcing regional growth. The progressive liberalization of the domestic financial sectors, the development of domestic capital markets and the integration of payments and settlement systems have opened up new channels for regional financial institutions and markets to intermediate funds across borders. These developments have facilitated the recycling of surplus funds from the region for economic development in the region, while also enabling greater diversification of risks. The lessons drawn from the Asian financial crisis more than 15 years ago also continue to shape our financial sector reforms, liberalization and economic and financial integration in the region. The focus is on developing a financial sector that serves the needs of the real economy, and which is built on solid foundations of sound risk management and strong financial buffers. An important precondition for financial liberalization and integration in the region has been ensuring that we build the capacity and financial infrastructure that would enable us to respond to emerging risks while also minimising their contagion effects.