. the association's collaboration with smu in 2002 to introduce an executive course on fixed income markets serves as a good 2 / 3 foundation for future training initiatives. i understand that siba is also working on introducing a corporate finance course. siba's collaboration with the smu, as well as its role in spearheading the fics ( financial industry competency standards ) in corporate finance, will help the industry to develop expertise in this core area. promoting singapore as a preferred location for capital raising, exploring and developing new growth areas the third key ingredient in developing our capital markets is effective promotion and innovation. the continued development of singapore's capital markets will significantly depend on industry practitioners, including siba members, taking an active interest in promoting singapore as a preferred capital - raising location. industry players like the sgx and our investment banks can undertake more promotional trips, to market the strengths of the singapore markets. i am therefore delighted to announce that the singapore exchange will be launching its global depository receipt programme soon. this innovative new product would provide an alternative means through which foreign companies can access institutional funds from singapore. similar to the american depository receipts or global depository receipts offered in many other american or european exchanges, the global depository receipts to be offered by sgx will allow foreign companies greater exposure in the singapore market and provide them with a wider international shareholder base. it will help to boost the company's prestige in its local market, in being traded internationally, while also encouraging greater liquidity for the company's shares. we believe that this new product will provide investment bankers in singapore with a wider range of solutions when advising companies keen on tapping singapore's capital markets for fund raising. mas is also considering how best we can treat corporate bonds as regulatory liquid assets of banks. this is in response to market feedback from siba, and is expected to increase demand from banks in singapore for corporate bonds. this will eventually attract more corporate debt issuance in singapore and further the development of our debt markets. mas will be consulting the industry on this initiative in due course. to help generate further buzz in the singapore market, siba can make use of its extensive network of experts to organize seminars and conferences to bring investors, bankers and other market practitioners to discuss new areas of interest and to gain wider understanding of the developments in the singapore capital markets. siba and its members can also help to identify investment instruments that will better service clients'needs, and facilitate the development of

theme driving the global economy in 2017 : the growing tensions in emerging asia between growth and financial stability. china and emerging asia : balancing growth and stability let me illustrate these tensions using china. for the past few years, china has been managing a difficult trade - off : sustaining economic growth versus reducing financial vulnerabilities. 4 / 7 bis central bankers'speeches the source of the trade - off lies in the high level of debt in the chinese economy. pursuing economic growth through credit and fiscal expansion adds to the debt burden and impinges on financial stability. reducing debt levels requires painful structural reforms and risks slowing down the economy sharply. china ’ s policymakers have managed this trade - off reasonably well these past few years. in 2016, they managed to keep growth and employment on an even keel, using the old formula of fiscal stimulus and credit easing. while this has added to overall debt levels, there has been some progress in reducing financial vulnerabilities. steps were taken to curb lending to unviable enterprises cool the property market in tier - 1 cities, and reduce over - capacity in the heavy industry sectors. but with heightened expectations of global financial tightening and us dollar strength, the tradeoffs and tensions in china are likely to become more stark this year. as us interest rates rise, resident investors in china have been recalibrating their relative expected returns, thus adding to pressures on china ’ s capital account and the exchange rate. tightening domestic liquidity to stem the pressure on the rmb would lead to higher interbank lending rates. this could potentially dampen investment spending and economic growth china has taken a balanced approach to these challenges : combining some degree of exchange rate flexibility, some controls on capital flows, and some amount of domestic tightening. navigating the treacherous waters of international financial markets this year will require a fair amount of policy dexterity. the rest of emerging asia is also confronted with headwinds from financial tightening and us dollar appreciation. the low interest rate environment since the global financial crisis has led to a dramatic buildup in debt among many asian corporates and households. over - extended borrowers face the double whammy of an increase in interest servicing costs and a rise in the foreign currency risks of unhedged debt. this could pose not just a threat to financial stability but also a drag on investment and consumption. that said, emerging asia is on a stronger footing to cope with the risks of global financial tightening. asian economies have been proactive in implementing