banks on cross - border banking supervision and payment systems, continental training on issues relating to banking supervision and regulation, and the collection of data needed to support bank supervisory activities. closer to home, the sarb also engages with the central banks of lesotho, namibia and swaziland, who together with south africa are members of the cma. the central bank governors of the cma meet three times a year to discuss economic developments in their respective countries as well as other issues related to crossborder spillover effects among cma members. the exchange of information as well as the collaboration on research and other matters of mutual interest have proven extremely useful in assisting the cma countries to fulfil their respective obligations stipulated in the multilateral monetary agreement which governs the cma arrangement. conclusion the sarb remains committed to playing its role in the development of the region, the continent, and the global economy. in many instances, we do this in collaboration with our counterparts in your respective countries. tonight, we celebrate this cooperation, and we trust that our partnerships will only strengthen in the times ahead. in the spirit of this cooperation, i would like to invite you to approach the sarb through our international economic relations and policy department should you need an update on economic and / or monetary policy developments. page 6 of 7 thank you for honouring our invitation. please enjoy the rest of the evening. page 7 of 7

a disadvantage by creating space for regulatory arbitrage. policy uncertainty in many countries, specifically the uncertainty arising from the tax proposals in the united states, also warrants careful attention. furthermore, more aggressive monetary policy actions than currently anticipated could tighten global financial conditions, causing disruptions to capital flows to emerging market and developing economies ( emdes ) like south africa. so while the short - term outlook is an optimistic one, there is general recognition that we cannot afford to be complacent. securing a sustained recovery over the medium term requires stronger international cooperation. allow me to highlight some of the initiatives in this regard. international cooperation page 2 of 7 international forums such as the g201 and brics2 continue to give attention to initiatives aimed at supporting stronger, more sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth. as part of that, the g20 and brics also give much attention to improving the resilience of the global financial system. structural reforms have been a key objective of the g20 and have consequently been receiving greater emphasis since the australian presidency of the g20 in 2014. these reforms are aimed at raising the collective g20 gdp3 by an additional 2 % by 2018. each g20 country has devised a growth strategy, highlighting the key structural reforms to be undertaken to raise potential output. every year, member countries update their growth strategies ( which are peer - reviewed ), new measures are committed to ( where possible ), and progress towards the stated objectives is assessed. under china ’ s g20 presidency in 2016, the structural reform agenda was further enhanced by the development of a set of priorities and guiding principles as a reference for g20 reform efforts. an indicator system was devised to assist with the monitoring and assessment of the implementation of structural reforms and their adequacy to address the structural challenges. this year, under germany ’ s presidency, the g20 has devised a set of principles as a means of enhancing member countries ’ resilience to shocks. there is little doubt that progress is being made in building a more resilient global financial architecture. the imf is currently reviewing its lending toolkit to make it more relevant and more balanced, and to also work towards closing the existing gaps within the global financial safety net. numerous discussions are also continuing on developing macroprudential policies and devising ways of improving the availability and quality of relevant data to enhance economic policy formulation and implementation. 1 group of twenty 2 brazil, russia, india, china, south africa 3