important step in this direction is the draft law on payments that is expected to provide impulse for new companies with innovative, but safe financial services. this workshop is conceived as a platform for getting better insight in the fintech developments, exchanging opinions, sharing ideas with a view of drawing the outlines of our future fintech strategy. in this light, i am delighted to invite mr. tikam to share with us part of his rich experience and knowledge on this topic. mr. tikam is an experienced executive level advisor with 26 years commercial experience, having played multifaceted roles, with the last 22 years in financial services. having in mind mr. tikam ’ s proficiency, i have no doubts that today we will have fruitful discussions and valuable exchange of experiences to the benefit of all participants. mr. tikam, thank you for your efforts in making this workshop happen. the floor is yours. 1 / 1 bis central bankers'speeches

fadilj bajrami : continued cooperation with central banks of the western balkans address by mr fadilj bajrami, vice governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, on the occasion of the first programme steering committee meeting of the ecb regional cooperation programme with central banks in the western balkans, tirana, 17 april 2014. * * * honorable governor fullani, honorable governor hamza, dear mr. sturm, dear mr. rumbold, representatives of central banks, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor and pleasure to be here with you in tirana on the occasion of the first meeting of the steering committee for the joint cooperation project between the european central bank and the national central banks of the eurosystem, and the central banks of the western balkans. as my colleagues have already noted, most of the activities of the project will be devoted to identifying the needs of the central banks of albania and kosovo in the process of their joining the european system of central banks, by strengthening their capacities and compliance with the standards of the central banking in the eu. last year, the national bank of the republic of macedonia successfully implemented such a project in cooperation with the ecb and the eurosystem. the project implementation has clearly identified the changes that the nbrm should focus on during its preparations for accession to the european system of central banks. namely, the final report on the needs analysis programme for the national bank of the republic of macedonia contained 138 recommendations addressing the gaps in terms of the eu benchmarks established in 11 areas of central banking. it is my pleasure to point out that some of them have already been implemented, and some of them have been incorporated in the strategic plan of the nbrm, that is in the national bank ’ s plan of activities for this year. however, the overall implementation of the recommendations will require additional technical assistance in terms of experience and knowledge of the ecb and the national central banks of the eu. therefore, the inclusion of the nbrm in this regional project, which aims to facilitate the preparations for the implementation of the recommendations we received in the report on the needs analysis programme for the nbrm, by establishing a plan for their implementation, is very important. it will be the basis for the preparation and the implementation of a subsequent project, as well as the basis for further planning and promotion of the bilateral cooperation with the central banks with which the nbrm already has a traditional cooperation, but also for