or more of euro area countries every year. if we consider the demand for euros created by tourists from many countries of the world including of the gcc countries, we would realize that more euros will need to be issued and some would be held in cash for ever by all those who travel to europe. the euro is the currency of international tourism at the moment, because europe attracts more tourists than any other region in the world, and it is expanding in this respect. conclusion with this i come to the conclusion of my short speech. finally i would say that the euro will definitely grow to dominate trade outside the euro area. the euro area will harmonize further its labor, tax and financial services laws, i. e. will become more competitive in attracting investments, which will help the euro to become the currency of international investments. i expect the euro to become the currency of international trade and investments in ten years. if we add to that tourism, the euro will surpass the us dollar, as the first currency in the world by 2015. thank you.

sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi : the extended importance of the euro speech by his excellency sultan bin nasser al - suwaidi, governor of the central bank of the united arab emirates, at the frankfurt european banking congress, frankfurt am main, 17 november 2006. * * * distinguished guests and speakers, ladies & gentlemen, it is my pleasure and honor to be here today, to speak at this important forum. thanks to the organizers, for their kind invitation. i will start by the euro area's gdp, which had grown continuously over the past five years, especially if we look at the figures as expressed in current prices and in us dollars. looking at the euro area's gdp would then prove that the euro had gained extended importance at a gdp figure of us dollars 9. 9 trillion at the end of 2005. also, if we look at what the euro area represents in world trade, we would find - out that it makes about 30 % of it, and the euro area is the largest single player in world trade, so europe / euro area is the " trade centre of the world ". having said this, let us look at the euro and the euro area from an outsider's point of view. in the gcc countries, we see the euro as the second currency in the world after the us dollar. this maybe explained, in part, if we look at the import figures and the currency of settlement for trade imports. if we study the figures of imports into the gcc countries, we will see that imports from the euro area have stayed almost static at about 20 - 21 % over the past five years. as an outsider to the euro, the gcc countries must have economic reasons to hold euros, one of these reasons is to pay for the import bill. in the case of gcc countries the import bill from the euro area has not increased in percentage terms, which means that trade needs for the euro within the gcc countries did not grow, as a matter of fact it declined slightly from 21. 84 % of all imports in 2001 to 20. 34 % in 2005. this is then the trade related needs for the euro in the gcc countries. the next question then ; which currency or currencies make - up the other 80 % of the gcc countries'trade related needs. it will be easy to predict if we know that 34 % of gcc imports come from asia, 11 % from usa and 35 % from all