jens weidmann : opening – “ building a dialogue. two corporate collections of contemporary art ” opening by dr jens weidmann, president of the deutsche bundesbank and chairman of the board of directors of the bank for international settlements, of the joint art exhibition of the deutsche bundesbank and the national bank of belgium " building a dialogue. two corporate collections of contemporary art ", brussels, 16 may 2019. * * * ladies and gentlemen, art lovers and friends of the central banks, dear pierre, it gives me great pleasure to join you here today in opening this exhibition of artworks from the collections of the national bank of belgium and the deutsche bundesbank. i must say, this is an impressive and exceptionally pleasing space for an exhibition of this kind. we jumped at the chance of sending exhibits from our collection on a journey to brussels, to our friends at the national bank of belgium in the capital city of europe. it ’ s a premiere for us – never before have we shown our works outside germany. many are the areas in which the national bank of belgium and the bundesbank can look back on a rich history of cooperation : indeed, our collaboration stretches back to the days when we each still had our respective national currencies – the belgian franc and the deutsche mark – and our partnership is just as close today in the era of the single currency, the euro. not only do pierre and i see each other every two weeks on the ecb governing council and also in places like basel – there are a great many colleagues from our respective institutions who work hand in hand in eurosystem committees and working groups. and i am particularly delighted to now see that the curators of our art collections have also teamed up to organise this outstanding exhibition. they have brought together large - scale paintings, photography and all manner of sculptures. all the works on display here are taken from the collections of our respective institutions. both the national bank of belgium and the bundesbank have been avid collectors of art for many decades now. over the years, we have each gathered quite sizeable collections which shed some light on how art has evolved in belgium and germany. but why do central banks collect art in the first place? there are two reasons for that. first, because we ’ re looking to engage with society at large. as public institutions, we have a sense of commitment to the arts and culture in our respective countries. second, we also feel that it is crucial to incorporate art

also made many important decisions aimed at attracting foreign investments and continued opening of the markets which will be reflected on the competitiveness of the national economy. all these positive developments are an incentive for investment in the kingdom in general and in the housing sector in particular. dear brothers, this conference is held at a time when the kingdom has achieved outstanding development results in all sectors of the economy. in 2006, the real gdp ( at current prices ) grew by 12. 4 percent and by 4. 2 percent ( at constant prices ). it is expected that strong growth rates will be maintained in the medium term. this will contribute to increasing the production capacity of the national economy and have a positive impact on all its sectors. international credit rating agencies have raised the credit rating of the kingdom to advanced grades, and commended the efficiency and soundness of the national economy and the economic reform programs. this climate has made domestic and international investors more interested to participate in and benefit from the various investment opportunities in the saudi economy. the banking system in the kingdom has exercised a vital role in boosting the national economy. it has made great progress, using the latest technologies and various banking products, under a supervisory system keen to meet domestic requirements and legislation as well as international standards. the contribution of the banking sector to housing finance is expected to increase as soon as the real estate mortgage law is enacted. it is worth mentioning that the size of real estate finance provided by commercial banks reached rls 13. 4 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2006. sama has permitted a number of banks to offer products for real estate financing. banks are constantly working to develop innovative products to meet the needs of the housing market. dear brothers, a review of the topics addressed on the first day of this conference by the distinguished speakers shows that they touched upon important issues and gave a future vision of housing in the kingdom, and how to benefit from the experiences of different countries in this area. today will be an extension of those topics that are directly related to housing finance. in general, i find that the conference broadly covers all aspects of housing finance in the kingdom. in conclusion, i thank the audience and the organizers of this conference, and wish you all success in your deliberations.