zeti akhtar aziz : expanding asean - eu economic links - the role of the euro speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the euro conference a€œexpanding asean - eu economic links - the role of the euro ", kuala lumpur, 14 july 2005. * * * your excellency ambassador thierry rommel, head of the eu commission delegation in malaysia, your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. it is my great pleasure to welcome you to the " euro conference : expanding aseaneu economic links - - the role of the euro ". bank negara malaysia is indeed honoured to co - host this event and would like to especially thank the european commission for the opportunity. the purpose of this conference is to bring together recognised experts to discuss the important issues affecting economic, monetary and financial interests in asean and the eu. i believe that the exchange of ideas and views over the next two days would contribute towards an increased understanding of the developments and issues important to our respective regions. our agenda is for the further strengthening of the close asean - eu partnership that offers mutually reinforcing benefits to both regions. it is our hope that this conference would serve as a catalyst to promote greater appreciation of the potential for an expanded asean - eu economic relationship - a relationship in which trade and investment flows between our regions can be enhanced. the asean - eu partnership has developed steadily over time through a number of well - established forums. this has taken place in a global environment in which the world economies and financial systems are increasingly becoming more integrated. as a result, it can be expected that there is increased interdependence, events that take place in one part of the world will have implications on other parts of the world. this is likely to be more pronounced in the asean economies and financial systems, given their openness and their high degree of integration with the global economy and international financial system. as the asean and the eu continues to evolve as strategic partners, new opportunities can also be realized. an enhanced relationship will also contribute towards more effective management of the new challenges in the ever - changing global environment. indeed, this conference takes place at an important time when it becomes even more constructive and meaningful for our two regions to strengthen our associations, our inter - linkages and our relationships. learning from the experiences of the eu ladies and gentlemen, the unification of europe on many fronts is a major structural enhancement to

risks to the transmission mechanism related to the pandemic. later in july, we also announced a new monetary policy tool, the transmission protection instrument ( tpi ), complementing our existing tools. this tool has been designed to counter unwarranted, disorderly market dynamics, with sufficient flexibility to respond to the severity of the risks facing policy transmission. it will safeguard the singleness of our monetary policy as the governing council proceeds on its policy rate normalisation path, helping us ensure price stability over the medium term in line with our mandate. the tpi is subject to a list of eligibility criteria which the governing council will use to assess whether a jurisdiction pursues sound and sustainable fiscal and macroeconomic policies. conclusion to conclude, inflation continues to rise across the euro area, affecting citizens in all areas of life. the latest eurobarometer indicates that almost two out of three citizens see rising inflation as one of the two most important issues at the moment. [ 2 ] higher energy and food prices are weighing in particular on the most vulnerable households and the situation is expected to get worse before it gets better. in this environment, it is essential that fiscal support used to shield those households from the impact of higher prices is temporary and targeted. this limits the risk of fuelling inflationary pressures, thereby also facilitating the task of monetary policy to ensure price stability, and contributing to preserving debt sustainability. the best contribution monetary policy can make to the euro area economy is to ensure price stability over the medium term. this means ensuring inflation expectations remain well anchored and that demand conditions are consistent with our target. as i pledged to keep the european parliament and the general public informed about our progress, let me end by providing you with a brief update on our ongoing work to incorporate climate change considerations into our monetary policy operations. as of next monday, the eurosystem will take into account a climate score of issuers in all purchases of corporate bonds, in the context of the eurosystem ’ s ongoing reinvestment purchases. this will result in the purchase of more bonds issued by companies with a good climate performance and fewer bonds from those with a poor climate performance. these measures will reduce the eurosystem ’ s exposure to climate - related financial risk, as well as support the green transition of the economy in line with the eu ’ s climate neutrality objectives. as of the first quarter of 2023, we will start publishing climate - related information on our corporate bond holdings, and we will regularly report on the