africa meeting of the econometric society introductory speech of mr. abdellatif jouahri governor of bank al - maghrib rabat, july 11 2019 honorable guests, distinguished researchers and professors, dear friends and colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, i would like to assure you that i will not venture giving a lecture in front of such an audience. i am here today more to listen. that being said, i would like to start by expressing how pleased i am to welcome you in bank al - maghrib and to wish our visitors from abroad a wonderful stay in morocco. i would also like to thank all officials for joining us, the distinguished researchers for kindly accepting to speak at the plenary sessions and the mostly - young researchers for coming from different spheres to present their works. i also extend my warmest thanks to econometric society which approached us to organize this conference, thus paving the way for a valuable cooperation between both teams. we view this meeting as an opportunity for us as a central bank, as well as for all the national institutions here represented today, to inquire about the progress made in economics research, namely with regard to quantitative economics. it is also an opportunity to strengthen the bonds with the academia and initiate new cooperation relationships. among all the scientific meetings that we have organized so far, this event holds a particular importance, in view of the strong participation of african researchers and of its focus on the economic issues of the continent. for several years now, morocco has been committed to a policy of openness to africa to further reinforce their ties, already strong by history, geography and culture, and to promote a win - win co - development in all fields. as a central bank, our contribution lies in accompanying the banking system in its expansion and in maintaining a broad cooperation with several similar institutions of the continent. today, we are pleased to pursue this contribution for the benefit of research. ladies and gentlemen, africa, as we know, performs poorly in the field of research. the continent, now home to nearly 17 percent of the world's population and more than one quarter by 2050, produces only 5 percent of the wealth, measured by the purchasing power parity, and contributes to the world ’ s scientific publications by no more than 2. 6 percent, according to the latest unesco science report published in 2015. in morocco, we are well aware that developing human capital and research is not an easy task. despite the strong will and

. over the next two days, fifteen prominent scholars from eleven countries will present their work on different institutional or national experiences in the inter - war years ; i thank them for being here and look forward to listening to their contributions. i would also like to thank the centre for culture, research and documentation of the bank of 2 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches greece, and its director, mr. panagiotis panagakis. our economic historian and scientific advisor to the historical archive, mr. andreas kakridis, who is the heart and soul of the conference. the staff at my office, our valuable communication section, the security officers, as well as numerous other colleagues at the bank of greece, without whom this conference would not be possible. the bank of greece is committed to promoting historical research, particularly research in economic history. yet the past is most interesting when it informs our understanding of the present and future. policy reactions to the recent financial crisis were shaped by perceptions – and often misperceptions – of the past, particularly the inter - war years. in this context, i am also pleased to welcome several of my esteemed colleagues from other european central banks, who are joining us for this conference. their presence honours us and underlines the connection to the present and future of central banking. we will have much more time to talk about this later today, during our panel discussion. but first, let us turn our gaze to the past and start our journey through the inter - war years. i wish everyone a fruitful conference and look forward to stimulating discussions! 1 page 8 of memorandum by η. finlayson, relations between the state and the central bank of issue, dated 10. 10. 1928, as found in the bank of england archive, niemeyer papers, ov9 - 206 / 2. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches