searching for ways to improve their performance. compared to the industrialized nations, developing countries are faring better. within the acu, most of the member countries recorded annual growths in excess of 4 % during 2000 - 2001. this augurs well for the acu. however, there is need for better volumes of trade amongst the member countries so that the system of acu could be utilized to the full extent for the maximum benefit of each of them. there is need for further efforts at increasing economic co - operation among members and closer relationships among the banking systems of the countries. n the scenario of fast emerging developments, prompted by technology and deeper integration of global markets, it is imperative that acu members should continuously update themselves technologically and be quick in adopting new and more efficient methods of operations. as recommended by the technical committee, members who are yet to switch over to swift, should do so expeditiously, in order to enable acu to aim for and achieve ‘ real time ’ settlements as soon as possible. there is also a strong need to expand the membership. besides maldives, the possibilities of bringing in thailand, china, malaysia and countries like tajikistan, uzbekistan and others should be explored. the expanded membership will help in better utilization of this important mechanism for the benefit of all the members. it is in this context that we have invited thailand to attend this meeting. i extend a warm welcome to the representatives from the bank of thailand. after this meeting, they will be visiting our office in mumbai to study in detail the working of the acu mechanism and its utility for the member countries. i earnestly hope that they will be convinced about the benefits of membership of the acu. before i conclude, on your behalf and mine, i would like to pay a special tribute to the contribution of dr. mohammad firouzdor, secretary general, to the work of acu. i have been informed that he proposes to retire from his position next week. as you are aware he has been the guiding spirit behind the acu secretariat for the last six years. through his excellent efforts, among many other matters, dr. firouzdor has ensured that the switchover to acu clearing mechanism is smooth and efficient. he was also instrumental in bringing the settlement mechanism to best international standards. all of us are grateful to him for the valuable contribution he has made to the success of acu and wish him a healthy and happy retired life. a successor to dr. fir

of the crisis, they have halved their leverage and improved their liquidity profiles, mainly thanks to an increase in high - quality liquid assets. progress has also been made in other areas, such as simplifying and boosting transparency in the otc derivative markets, including through the use of central clearinghouses, and measures have been taken to reduce some of the risks arising from non - bank financial intermediation. nonetheless, we cannot ignore the persistence of certain risks and vulnerabilities. first, although large banks are now less leveraged, overall debt levels remain very high. global public - sector and non - financial private - sector debt has increased by some 40 percentage points ( pp ) since the financial crisis to reach 250 % of global gross domestic product ( gdp ) ; public - sector debt has increased significantly in the advanced economies and privatesector debt in the emerging economies, especially in china. second, there has been an increase in the weight of non - bank financing. the weight of other financial intermediaries ( ofis ) 1 in the global financial system has been growing in recent years, and reached 30 % in december 2016, according to the latest data available. this trend is confirmed by the growth in non - bank financial intermediation, which generates similar risks to banking ; its weight in the global financial industry increased from 11. 6 % in 2010 to 13. 4 % in 2016. these trends may have potentially important implications for the functioning and resilience of financial markets, in particular at times of stress. third, a number of challenges remain relating to implementation of some of the approved reforms, in particular the latest package of basel iii reforms agreed in december 2017. finally, now is the time to assess whether the approved reforms are effective and to identify any unintended consequences. in this respect, the fsb is due to launch an assessment of the policies agreed to address the too - big - to - fail problem next year. reviewing globalisation and world trade rules the fsb defines ofis by exclusion. this is not a statistical definition, therefore, since it covers various categories of the national financial accounts : all non - bank intermediaries other than the central bank, public institutions, insurance entities, pension funds and financial auxiliaries. 5 / 14 the political and social consequences of the crisis have had an impact on economic policy in the area of trade policy, at global level. trade tensions and the proliferation of protectionist measures are one of the worst