to create a conducive environment to attract, retain and efficiently allocate capital for economic growth and development, even though the dividends are yet to materialise. we, therefore, need to dedicate resources to address legal and infrastructure challenges and develop innovative products that are marketresponsive, including esg products, increased access for the diaspora, improved infrastructure, sukuk bonds, and formalising the commodities market, among others. uganda's position as the leading financial market in the region should prompt us to question why uganda should not ambition to establish itself as a financial centre to rival others in the region. in this regard, i would like to inform you that the ministry of finance planning and economic development has appointed the bank of uganda to chair the uganda fixed income market steering committee, which is comprised of key stakeholders in uganda's financial markets. this committee will spearhead the development of strategies specifically geared towards addressing the stumbling blocks to fixed - income market development in uganda and generally developing the financial markets landscape in uganda. in conclusion, i would like to appreciate absa once again for spearheading this initiative and omfif's continued contribution to the development of africa's financial markets. i thank you all for your attention. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches

colleagues and dear friends from de nederlandsche bank and banco de portugal. support by someone reliable and eloquent truly matters and often makes the difference when striving to excel. we could not have done it without you and we are deeply grateful to you for that! it is why it is my particular pleasure that we have governor knot and board member mr rosalino here with us today. your presence do us great honor and i am confident that our cooperation will be even stronger and deeper than before. allow me also to express my sincere gratitude to mr yves mersch, executive board member of the ecb, for honoring us with his presence at this highly important event. eu integration is the future we want and we as a national bank continuously invest in improving our capacities to comply with eu central banking standards. focusing on payment systems only, major steps were taken toward harmonization of the macedonian legislation with the eu regulation. the new law on payment services and systems and related bylaws which are under procedure will implement psd and part of the provisions from psd2, settlement finality directive and e - money ii directive. the nbrm took an important step toward harmonization with the eu regulation in the oversight area by adopting new oversight regulation which is in line with the principles for financial market infrastructures, as well as the ecb ’ s revised oversight framework. further on, domestic payment statistics was adjusted in accordance with the ecb regulation providing methodological and operational compliance with the payment statistics of the european system of central banks. another major project was completed recently linking the domestic payment system with target 2 via banca d ’ italia. this project is expected to contribute to reducing the gap between fees for cross - border payment transactions and domestic payments, which is in line with the eu progress report recommendations and the ecb ’ s needs analysis report for the national bank of the republic of macedonia from 2013. in the period ahead, we will continue to further strengthen capacities enabling the nbrm to successfully join the european system of central banks, and later the eurosystem once the republic of macedonia achieves its strategic commitment for eu membership. i would also like to express my appreciation to our distinguished panelists for today – governors and other honorable guests and to thank all esteemed guests, delegates and speakers for contributing to another successful event. finally, jubilees like this don ’ t come together over night. allow me to express my recognition and appreciation to the whole team that each year coordinates the conference