gent sejko : enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis address by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the launching ceremony of the twinning project “ enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis ”, tirana, 19 december 2019. * * * your excellencies ambassadors, representatives of banca d ’ italia and deutsche bundesbank, ladies and gentlemen, dear guests, i have the pleasure, as the governor of the bank of albania, to welcome you to the launching ceremony of the twinning project on “ enhancing bank of albania ’ s alignment with eu acquis ”. the project is financed with ipa 2015 eu funds, following a previous project on needs analysis for the bank of albania – designed and led by the ecb in partnership with 11 central banks of the european system of central banks. from this perspective, the new twinning project we are launching today may be considered a continuation of the previous one, given that it will address a significant number of recommendations from 2014. hoping that in the spring of 2020 we will see a green light for the opening of accession negotiations for albania, i would like to reassure you of bank of albania ’ s commitment to fulfilling priorities arising from the european integration process. major objectives for strengthening the long - term capacities of the institution coincide with the approximation of its legal, regulatory and operational frameworks to that of the european system of central banks. i would like to emphasise that undertaking such projects emphasises the mutual engagement of the eu and albania with regard to deepening integration processes of our country, and reiterates albania ’ s european perspective. dear ladies and gentlemen, in the last decade, bank of albania has implemented a number of eu - funded projects. the first twinning project was implemented during 2012 – 2013. at that time, like now, banca d ’ italia – in partnership with banque de france – contributed successfully to achieving concrete results in six areas of bank of albania ’ s activity. the second project – needs analysis for bank of albania ’ s approximation, funded by the eu – was led by the european central bank and was implemented during 2014. the aim of the sixmonth project was to assess the legal, regulatory and operational frameworks of the bank of albania vis - a - vis standards and best practices applied in european central banks. from this perspective, it should be underlined that the recommendations left upon the completion of this project are

ravi menon : asean financial integration – where are we, where next? keynote address by mr ravi menon, managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the asean banking council meeting, singapore, 12 june 2015. * * * dr in channy, chairman, asean bankers association mr samuel tsien, chairman, association of banks in singapore ladies and gentlemen, good morning. asean banks have performed well over the last two decades since the asian financial crisis. asia ’ s economies and financial systems, including those in asean, generally held up well during the global financial crisis. the near term economic outlook for asean will be shaped by two themes : the ongoing recovery in the g3 economies and the slowdown in the chinese economy. barring shocks, overall growth in asean should remain firm this year, at about 5 %, not spectacular but very respectable considering the state of the global economy. macroeconomic conditions are therefore supportive of banks in asean. there are, however, downside risks they need to watch. • the divergence in monetary policy settings among the g3 economies could pose risks to financial stability that could also potentially hurt growth. • the anticipated normalisation of interest rates in the us against continuing quantitative easing in the eurozone and japan is already causing sharp movements in exchange rates and bond yields. the scenario of a “ double whammy ” posed by a rise in us interest rates and a strong us dollar could expose vulnerabilities among some asean borrowers. • banks in the region could face higher non - performing loans. they could also face reduced us dollar funding if there are large capital outflows from asean. • but their liquidity and capital positions are generally sound and they should be able to weather this. asean growth story still good over the medium to long term, asean is expected to remain among the fastest growing regions in the world. last year, the combined gdp of asean was close to us $ 2. 5 trillion – larger than india. • the asean - 4 – indonesia, malaysia, thailand and the philippines – are projected to grow by at least 4 % per annum on average over the next five years. • it could be as high as 6 % if asean becomes more integrated and these countries successfully implement structural reforms to raise productivity and competitiveness. for banks in asean, it is not just the size and growth of the economies that matter. it is the composition of that growth and demand. rising incomes and the agglomeration effects of urbanisation will significantly