, and finland followed suit in 1878. at that point, the gold content of the finnish markka was defined so that it was exactly equivalent to the french franc. the exchange rate of the markka vis - a - vis the french franc was kept constant for 36 years, from the start in 1878 until the outbreak of the first world war. at the end of this war finland declared her independence in december 1917, following the october revolution in russia. this was a very short version of the bank ’ s first century. let me now tell you about the main building. the renaissance - style building was designed by german architect ludwig bohnstedt, who had also worked as professor at the russian academy of arts in st petersburg. he was chosen as architect for the bank ’ s head office in finland ’ s first ever architectural competition, in 1876. the cornerstone was laid in 1879. in accordance with tradition, a tin box was hidden beside the cornerstone, containing 10 and 20 markka gold coins, 1 and 2 markka silver coins as well as the history of the founding of the bank of finland, written on parchment. the building was designed with a spacious upper hall, meeting rooms for the directors and other work amenities. below ground, the bedrock was quarried to provide space for vaults and safety deposit boxes for secure storage. as a detail i may mention that the water closets bis central bankers ’ speeches installed by the bank in its head office were the first of their kind in helsinki and aroused a great deal of attention. in the great helsinki bombing of february 1944, the bank ’ s building suffered a direct hit. the bomb destroyed a beautiful arched glass roof that was replaced with a solid one. the next major renovation was undertaken in the 1960s. in connection with this renovation, a new extension was built onto the main building, design by the architect harry w. schreck. the extension itself has been renovated several times, most recently in the early 2000s. complete refurbishment of the main building was completed in the spring of 2006. the old banking rooms, on the first floor, were refitted with meeting and entertainment facilities. the ground floor and elsewhere were equipped with modern plan offices. bis central bankers ’ speeches

erkki liikanen : european integration in a global economic setting – cesee, china and russia opening remarks by mr erkki liikanen, governor of the bank of finland, at the conference on european economic integration ( ceei ) 2011 : “ european integration in a global economic setting – cesee, china and russia ”, vienna, 21 november 2011. * * * thank you very much, ewald! let me start by expressing how much i and the whole suomen pankki appreciate the invitation to join the national bank of austria in organizing this exciting conference. this conference is a great example of cooperation between two members of the eurosystem. i am very glad so many of you have been able to join us. the topic of this conference is timely : the emergence of china has been one of the key defining trends of the past two decades in the global economy. chinese manufacturing goods are competing at higher and higher levels of sophistication, and the effects are being felt all over europe and the rest of the world. at the same time, russia ’ s economic growth has also been impressive, and the country has become even more important for us in europe. russia is particularly important as a source of energy and russia ’ s growing standards of living have enabled many countries – including finland – to export more there. furthermore, we should not forget the other emerging market and developing countries that have succeeded in growing at a rapid pace during the past years and even decades. during the “ great recession ” most large emerging market economies continued to grow, while advanced oecd countries contracted. this means that – adjusted for purchasing power parities – the emerging and developing economies will overtake advanced economies, perhaps already in 2013. bis central bankers ’ speeches while this is a significant shift in the balance of economic activity in the world, we need to also remember that we are witnessing a return to the situation that persisted for most of the past two millennia. china accounted for more than one quarter of global output until the beginning of the 19th century, and the country is now on its way to a similar share of total output. bis central bankers ’ speeches while this growing share necessarily comes at the expense of europe and the us, we need to remind ourselves that the global economy is not a zero - sum game. a more affluent china also means larger export markets for european goods and services. moreover, china is not alone. what ’ s more, large emerging economies like russia and brazil have generally