EU integration is the future we want and we as a National Bank continuously invest in improving our capacities to comply with EU central banking standards. Focusing on payment systems only, major steps were taken toward harmonization of the Macedonian legislation with the EU regulation. The new Law on Payment Services and Systems and related bylaws which are under procedure will implement PSD and part of the provisions from PSD2, Settlement Finality Directive and E-money II Directive. The NBRM took an important step toward harmonization with the EU regulation in the oversight area by adopting new oversight regulation which is in line with the Principles for Financial Market Infrastructures, as well as the ECB’s revised oversight framework. Further on, domestic payment statistics was adjusted in accordance with the ECB Regulation providing methodological and operational compliance with the payment statistics of the European System of Central Banks. Another major project was completed recently linking the domestic payment system with TARGET 2 via Banca d’Italia. This project is expected to contribute to reducing the gap between fees for cross-border payment transactions and domestic payments, which is in line with the EU Progress Report recommendations and the ECB’s Needs Analysis Report for the National Bank of the Republic of Macedonia from 2013. In the period ahead, we will continue to further strengthen capacities enabling the NBRM to successfully join the European System of Central Banks, and later the Eurosystem once the Republic of Macedonia achieves its strategic commitment for EU membership.

Three years later, Banco de Portugal came on board thanks to Mr Rui Pimentel, to jointly create a conference that certainly grows into a recognizable brand name, set with the aim to inform of all relevant payment-related matters, to share knowledge and to educate, to influence and last but not least to network and socialize. Payment systems and market infrastructures – why this topic in the first place? There is no doubt that payment systems comprise vital part of countries’ economic and financial infrastructures. However, it was only the last two decades or so when this issue gained in topicality, concerning both, service providers and policymakers and central banks. This is because of the new global landscape, which shaped by the streams of globalization, the dramatically rising volumes of payments and the advancing fintech innovation has returned payment systems to the focus once again. With their safety, resilience and efficiency becoming critical to the financial stability and the well-functioning of the economy as a whole. We started this Conference as domestically oriented, having the domestic financial sector as target audience, to later on move to expand internationally from Southeastern and Central and Eastern Europe to the Black Sea Region and the Middle East with Northern Africa countries joining us lately. Allow me to extend my sincere appreciation to the Vice Governor Maja Kadievska Vojnovic and to Igor Velichkovski, Head of the Payment Systems Department within the NBRM for successfully turning this conference into a truly international one.