of the country ’ s economy, creating the conditions for the development of a sustainable financial infrastructure, in line with contemporary developments in this field, including the development of new segments of the financial system such as the capital market, which requires a broad interinstitutional interaction. * * * before i receive your questions, let me inform you that the cbk has continued to announce the already traditional competition for the “ young economist ” award. on this occasion, i would like to 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches thank and congratulate all the candidates for their works that they have submitted within this competition. this activity aims to promote research activities in the field of economics among young people. based on the assessment of the professional commission for the submitted works, i am pleased to announce the winner of this award, erzana uka, with the topic " the impact of digitalization on the banking system ". in the end, hoping and believing that next year will be a more positive year in all aspects, i wish good health, joy and success to all of you and your families. 5 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches

services. at the same time, a developed payment system ensures the protection of the integrity of the financial system and the euro currency, the reduction of negative effects from the phenomenon of money counterfeiting, consumer protection and the advancement of market practices, reduction of the effects of money laundering activities and terrorism financing, increased access to financial services and financial inclusion. in line with the stabilization - association agreement and the berlin process, the reform process and the advancement of the payment system through the development of local instant payments and the integration of the payment system at the regional level will also accelerate access to the single euro payment area of the european union known as sepa. this is tasked with effectively bringing domestic and cross - border payments within the eu to the same level of cost, time efficiency and security as well as access to the eu's instant payment system known as tips which is part of of the eurosystem since 2018. this enables payment service providers to offer funds transfers to their customers in real time and around the clock, every day of the year, where individuals and businesses can transfer money between each other within seconds, regardless of their local bank's business hours. even the latest regulation for cash operations marks a very big advance in terms of alignment with the requirements and standards for membership in sepa, as well as tips. therefore, the cbk has started taking actions within the strategic plan 2024 - 2028 for the activities that are planned and related to the field of the payment system, which are as follows : advancing the legal and technical infrastructure of the cbk for membership in the sepa payments scheme and access to the eu instant payments system ( tips ) ; developing the technical infrastructure for enabling instant payments 24 / 7, creating the national qr code and the standardization of the api for the interconnection of systems ; reducing cash payments and promoting electronic payments ; while for two of the following activities we already have developments, such as : creating opportunities for access to the payment system of non - bank service providers, as well as enabling the possession of iban, to increase access to finance, within the " payment account " concept, where we have approved the regulation, 2 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches also today, we are carrying out the foreseen activity : empowering the national payments council as an advisory body for joint actions regarding the digitization and standardization of payment systems and instruments ; the advancement of the payment system presents significant challenges both from the perspective of the cbk and