experiencing a major change in our staffs ’ views of the organizational culture and management system, which have been formed on long - standing social environment and customs. we should improve our business practices and organizational culture, and bring innovation to our administrative and personnel management system, in line with the changing times. to this end, starting with the assessment of our organizational culture last year, we have been working on developing a medium - and long - term plan this year to bring innovative change to our administrative and personnel management system. with the help of professional consulting firms, the plan will include a fundamental improvement roadmap across the organization and personnel overall. we will need to come up with reasonable and practical solutions. when carrying out innovation in the administrative and personnel management system, voluntary participation by staff is essential. in pursuit of innovation in any organization, conflicts of interest among members naturally occur, making it difficult to build a consensus. however, if we deal with this challenge wisely, our status as a pivotal policy making body will be reinforced further and staff members ’ pride will be enhanced. members of the bank of korea family! even in the face of the covid - 19 pandemic, the bank of korea has been able to fulfill its role without cessation, which i believe is attributable largely to our staff members ’ hard work. having said that, our economy is not yet fully free from the effects of the pandemic, and ahead of us lie a number of problems that we could not anticipate in the process of responding to the crisis. furthermore, we are now at a very crucial juncture where there are also policy tasks that have been building up and need to be dealt with to sustain stable growth. with a sense of mission as central bankers, we should do our utmost to fulfill the duties and responsibilities entrusted to us in our positions. i would like to thank everyone once again for your hard work, and i wish each one of you together with your families, health and happiness always. thank you. 3 / 3 bis central bankers'speeches

of the then prevailing exchange rate system and the crawling band regime to sustain themselves. immediately after the float, the market experienced some volatility as is usually expected. however, this volatility has been contained overall since then. this, not only brought confidence to the market, as evidenced by increased foreign exchange inflows, but also allowed greater flexibility and market opportunities to foreign exchange dealers of commercial banks. subsequent to the float, the central bank became a net buyer of foreign exchange from the market, in sharp contrast to its experience in the period prior to that. our objective with regard to the foreign exchange market is to ensure an orderly adjustment of the exchange rate, without excessive volatility. such adjustment should reflect the emerging economic fundamentals of the country. we should ensure that demand and supply mismatches are addressed on time so that there is no excessive volatility in the exchange rate. turning to the theme of this year ’ s conference, i. e. “ is it time for a common currency in the saarc region? ”, i believe that it would give rise to much interesting and thought provoking discussion and debate. we know that the saarc was established in 1985, with the objective to provide a platform for the peoples of south asia to work together in a spirit of solidarity, trust and understanding. it aims at accelerating the process of economic and social development of member countries. i believe the considerations of the timeliness to introduce a common currency for the region will be supportive towards the objectives and aims of saarc as well. while taking note that deliberations such as these would definitely lay the foundation for future developments in the saarc region, i take great pleasure in inaugurating this conference today and wish you all success with the conference. and i would also like to urge you to take a little time off to visit some places of interest, while you are in this beautiful country, sri lanka. thank you.