the region. countries in the same region tend to possess better understanding and coordination, and therefore, policies and initiatives at the regional level can be more effective and timely. second, while the asian financial crisis was a wake up call for asia on the need for regional liquidity facility, asian countries need to consider making such facility sufficiently large and effective with timely disbursement in light of the current global crisis. during the asian financial crisis, more than 75 % of the imf ’ s financial package for thailand came from the funding within the region. the present global situation has also reconfirmed the vision set for the by the chiang mai initiative ( cmi ) that asia needs to have its own regional liquidity facility to protect itself from contagion, be it caused within the region or from outside. it is therefore timely that coordination and cooperation among countries be further strengthened to ensure that prompt remedial actions can be put in place in light of the ongoing global financial crisis. ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, i wish to remind you that the present situation calls for the need to greater international cooperation, which requires concerted efforts by international organizations, regional cooperation and national governments, in combating the global financial crisis. regional cooperation must be coherent with national policy and work hand - in - hand with international cooperation. the impact of crisis today and the effect of the unwinding of measures taken would not be a zero - sum game, and all players could potentially lose. thus, going forward, finding the right balance and creating ties between these three, namely international, regional and national interests, will be an important task for national authorities. thank you.

tarisa watanagase : combating the global financial crisis – role of international cooperation remarks by dr tarisa watanagase, governor of the bank of thailand, at the hkma distinguished lecture, hong kong, 16 december 2008. * * * governor draghi, governor yam, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, i am honored and delighted to be here among this gathering of distinguished policymakers, financial experts and academia, at this year ’ s hkma distinguished lecture and would like to thank governor yam for the kind invitation. this lecture truly provides an excellent opportunity for us to share our views on the topical issues that are at the center of international financial community. ten years ago, we had the asian financial crisis. in thailand, there were plenty of discussions about the causes and remedies of the crisis, some of which still continued until these days. to me, the thai crisis had 4 main causes, namely, we had weaknesses in the macroeconomic management leading up to bubbles, lax supervision, excessive risk taking of both the financial sector and the private sector in general, and the inadequate legal and information infrastructure. the crisis we are facing now has many surprises as pointed out by governor draghi, but i also see plenty of similarities in the underlying root causes. because of the crisis ’ s global scale and its severity, this time around we have seen unprecedented efforts taking at both the national, regional and international levels. today, one decade after the asian financial crisis, emerging markets look less vulnerable to financial disturbances. emerging markets, in particular in asia, are learning to live with heightened uncertainty in the world where the extent and the whereabouts of benefits from financial globalization to promote growth and development while ensuring our economic and financial stability. this, of course, necessitates that we have to be very focused on risk management. ladies and gentlemen, asian economies have come a long way since 1997 in promoting economic and financial resiliency. we see a region - wide move toward a more flexible exchange rate regime, with a disciplined framework in the conduct of monetary and fiscal policies. as for the financial sector, the framework of policy has moved toward risk - based supervision, to an adherence to international standards, and to the undertakings of formal financial sector assessments under financial sector assessment program of fsap. the macroeconomic policies also become more flexible, yet proactive, in dealing with changes in the market conditions and practices. when necessary, a tradition fiscal - monetary policy mix has