in developing asia projected to exceed global growth at 6. 7 % in 2012 and 7. 2 % in 2013. 5 secondly, both demand and supply side factors in asia are relatively positive. corporate and government balance sheets are generally healthy. households are not overly levered, savings rates are high and unemployment is comparatively low. the rising middle class, highly educated workforce and favourable demographics are also plus points for asia. these factors, coupled with asia ’ s strong commitment to economic openness and free trade, are important in creating a business friendly and conducive environment for its financial sector to continue to thrive and grow. thirdly, with asia ’ s relatively strong economic growth and favourable demographics, investible assets from the institutional and private wealth segments are set to grow. in a 2011 report published by cerulli associates, institutional investable assets from asia ex - japan are expected to triple from us $ 4. 3 trillion in 2006 to us $ 13. 6 trillion by 2015. total wealth from the private wealth segment is also expected to increase. in its recent wealth report, 6 julius baer expects the number of high net worth individuals in asia to more than double over the risk roadmap : hedge funds and investors ’ evolving approach to risk ( 2012 ). imf : world economic outlook, october 2012. julius baer wealth report 2012. bis central bankers ’ speeches next three years to almost 3 million. as asia grows in wealth, there will be more capital requiring active and customised fund management expertise to take advantage of the investment opportunities in asia. asia ’ s strong fundamentals will support the valuations of asian assets, which will draw a growing interest from institutional investors around the world looking to diversify and generate returns. according to preqin, 7 46 % of asia - pacific hedge fund investors intend to invest opportunistically in asia - pacific hedge funds, whilst 31 % of asia - pacific hedge fund investors are looking to increase their longer - term allocations to asia - pacific. deutsche bank also noted in its 2012 alternative investment survey that north america and asia are currently the most sought after investment regions, with investors planning to allocate approximately 26 % of assets to asia. conclusion as a source as well as a destination for investments, asia presents compelling prospects for the hedge fund industry. singapore ’ s strategic location makes us well - placed to serve as a hub with strong physical connectivity, trade and financial linkages to the rest of asia. together with our strong

. regulatory and political risks heighten the likelihood of default, transaction lead times are long, projects require prohibitively large amounts of start - up capital, and there is limited access to expertise in project development and financing. the current model of multilateral bank lending is inadequate to mobilise the capital that countries need for their transition. a good part of multilateral bank lending goes to bankable projects that could well have been financed by private capital. multilateral banks tend to prioritise projects with lower risks to support their mandates of macroeconomic stability and growth. but in truth, their capital is most needed for riskier projects that are only marginally bankable but can support the transition. what we need is public - private partnership in financing that is synergistic not duplicative. we need to make every dollar of public capital count. we need blended finance. catalytic and concessional funding from the public sector, multilateral development banks, and philanthropic sources can potentially enhance project bankability and help to crowd in private capital. they can : mitigate a portion of project risks to improve the risk - return profile and attract a broader set of private investors ; provide technical assistance at the project design stage to increase the pipeline of investable projects ; and facilitate the development of a mature climate blended finance ecosystem in emerging markets and developing economies. blended finance is not new but we need to scale it up and this requires a collective effort. central banks and financial supervisors can support this effort to varying degrees, depending on their mandates. the ngfs has launched a blended finance initiative to contribute to this collective effort in two ways. we will use our convening power to raise awareness of blended finance for climate action and help to bring the relevant parties into the room. we will identify any potential market, policy or regulatory barriers that hamper the scaling up of blended finance. the ngfs aims to launch at cop28 a handbook on blended finance. we will release next month a conceptual note on the handbook which will serve as a preamble. the handbook will be organised around three key themes. first, identify key elements needed to build a climate blended finance ecosystem. to scale up blended finance for climate adaptation and mitigation, we need financial instruments and vehicles that can align incentives in both the public and private sector and entice private capital with varying appetite for risk. 4 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches for example, green bond funds or outcome - based debt instruments such as sustainability - linked