- central bankers'speeches safe, secure, and efficient payment system, we are pushing for digital payments. this includes the use of innovative digital payment rails, such as instapay, pesonet, and qr ph. building on these payment systems, we have also rolled out bills pay ph, which you can use to pay your bills, palengqr which you can use to pay your market vendors, and egov pay which you can use, if you are a taxpayer here, to pay the government. these programs have helped us surpass our goal of digitalizing at least half of total retail payments. as of end - december 2023, 52 percent of these payments were done digitally. working with the bank for international settlements, we are trying to connect our fast payment system with those of our asean ( association of southeast asian nations ) neighbors as well as india, saudi arabia, and other countries with fast payment systems. this platform is called project nexus. once this is in place in two years, this platform will make cross - border retail transactions more secure, more efficient, and less costly. meanwhile, we are painfully aware that our geography makes us especially vulnerable to climate change. just last week, we witnessed typhoon carina that made this vulnerability all too evident. hence, we have issued guidelines for the management of risks related to environmental, social, and governance issues. at the same time, we have developed a taxonomy for banks for sustainable finance. this will allow banks to tag each of their activities as environmentally or socially sustainable. economic fragmentation let me now turn to you, the consular corps for help. we need your help for one increasingly important concern - that of economic fragmentation. for decades after world war ii, increasing globalization was the norm. most governments believed in its benefits, and thus, most wanted to be part of it. but for almost two decades now, globalization has been losing ground to global fragmentation. in recent years, fragmentation has been fueled by the global financial crisis, trade wars, trade disruptions caused by the russia - ukraine conflict. as we all know, global trade is now on its back foot. according to the world bank, the average annual number of new trade agreements in the 2020s is less than half of that of the 2000s. in contrast, the number of new trade - restricting measures in 2022 and 2023 has tripled relative to 2019. this has led to a slowdown in the growth of trade. it appeared from 2020 to

way that encourages sound and rigorous banking practices and strengthens corporate performance. to be an effective instrument of corporate governance, the board of directors must act independently, and participate actively in shaping the strategies of the bank. the board should deliberate and decide on issues in the best interests of the bank, its depositors and all its shareholders. board members must also be able to participate actively in strategic discussions, to facilitate the flow and cross - fertilisation of ideas, and exercise effective oversight over the management. thus in the us, the federal reserve board inspects banks ’ board minutes to determine if all board members are active and contribute to discussions on important matters. singapore banks are prudently managed and financially sound. according to the latest moody ’ s ratings, they were collectively rated the ninth best in the world and best in asia. but benchmarked against international best practices of corporate governance and disclosure, they still have some way to go. one major step we have taken is to require all local banks to appoint nominating committees within their boards, following common practice in the developed economies. the task of the nominating committees is to ensure that only the most competent and qualified individuals, who can contribute actively to the bank and discharge their responsibilities in the interests of all shareholders, are appointed to the board and to key management positions. such appointments are not a one - off exercise, but a continuing requirement. in singapore politics we have made self - renewal of leaders a norm. as a result the political leadership belongs to the same generation as the population, and stays vigorous, up to date, and in tune with the electorate. but self - renewal is necessary in every field, including banking. the boards of singapore banks have done commendable jobs discharging their responsibilities. but on the whole they have not given enough attention to self - renewal, to inducting and testing out new talent and getting people who have served long and well to make way gracefully for a younger team. in contrast, many international banks have, as a matter of board policy, set age limits and limited the length of tenure of all board members. mas has discussed this important issue with the local banks. we understand how difficult it is for a director to give way to a younger replacement, particularly if he has performed well over many years and still feels able to fulfil his responsibilities. but unless we overcome this psychological hurdle, we will be unable to sustain the vitality and drive of the organisation, and the quality