of time to allow implementation of fiscal adjustments in europe, strengthening of banks and bis central bankers ’ speeches adoption of structural measures to boost growth. implementing these programs, however, involves facing serious difficulties. political, social and economic costs are paid in the short - run and may generate tensions, whereas benefits are to be seen only in the medium term. therefore, we cannot rule out a rebound of financial tensions. all in all it seems as if, at least in the short run, the imminent threat of contagion to economies systemically most relevant has diminished. this is reflected in risk, volatility and liquidity indicators that have dropped from the maximum levels of late 2011, while stock market and other asset prices have recovered so far in 2012. outstanding among the latter are commodities. news in the united states is more encouraging, although recovery is still envisaged to be slow, and the labor market continues to show significant imbalances. however, the us evolution compensates the decline in the eurozone. data of emerging economies show that activity has decelerated. in several cases, it is difficult to distinguish how much is driven by international forces, how much by natural domestic slowdown or by specific events. an outstanding event has been the announcement by the chinese authorities of a lower growth goal for this year. in chile, the effects of the international crisis have been limited and lower than was foreseen a few months ago. several effects that were noticeable toward the end of last year have been reversed to a great extent or have become less intense. terms of trade have improved over the last months, due to rises in the copper price. conditions for external financing have also improved, as a result of increased confidence in international markets. local financial markets – one of the transmission channels of external crises towards the domestic economy – show that stock indexes, risk premiums and exchange rates have gone back to levels similar to those that existed before the intensification of international financial tensions. other indicators such as amounts and terms of external banking sector financing have stopped the decline that occurred toward the end of last year. the chilean peso has appreciated nearly 7 % so far this year. the real exchange rate is close to its average level of the past 15 to 20 years. the movements of the exchange parity have matched the evolution of the us dollar in international markets, in the face of calmer markets and a greater appetite for risk. this has occurred with the price of copper at 3. 8 dollars

adapt in the harshest of environments, and can take that nimbleness in their ventures abroad. the last two decades, in particular, have seen the rise of emncs – emerging multinational companies. our corporate sector has survived in perhaps one of the most challenging environments, and yet it has flourished. there are challenges to expanding abroad – challenges that our companies may not have encountered previously. but i, for one, would like to see more of our corporate sector aggressively targeting the regional and global market. i challenge you to dream larger than ever before. this is where the role of visionary leadership comes in. can a pakistani multinational be recognized as a regional or global powerhouse? our peers in the developing world have been surging forward here. jaguar, the icon of british royalty, was recently bought by tata motors. mittal steel acquired the european company arcelor, and arcelor - mittal is now the world ’ s largest steel maker. russia ’ s gazprom surpassed microsoft in 2006 to become the world ’ s third most valuable company. china mobile ’ s market capitalization has now surpassed that of vodafone ’ s. orascom of egypt led europe ’ s largest ever leveraged buyout. it is apparent we are in the middle of a paradigm shift – let ’ s not get left behind. the path to internationalization of any corporate is slow and gradual. there is a steep learning curve, lots of false starts, and constant feedback loops. i may not be the best person to deliver a lecture on expanding overseas, but i am convinced that the lessons bis central bankers ’ speeches learned here, can easily be applied in other economies, where companies from more developed countries may not be able to adapt as quickly. so let us expand into other developing countries first. let us expand into other countries in south asia for instance. the african market is another possible destination as well. let us develop a regional presence before we can take on the markets in industrialized nations. let us also not forget that the millions of pakistanis abroad will give you an edge as you venture abroad. they will be familiar with your brands, and with the quality of your products. they may just hold the key to giving you a foothold in international markets. but for all this to happen, we need your vision and your leadership. at the state bank, we are concerned about the current state of foreign direct investment or fdi. we are concerned for a good reason. most