well. secondly, we have dedicated significant resources to improve our analytical skills over the last couple of years. and finally, we have had an encouraging experience on stress testing during the fsap mission last year, although the approach was simple. against that background, we will give considerable attention already this year to further upgrade of financial system analysis and we are looking forward to cooperate in that respect with our friends in europe as well as in washington. iv. safety nets : crisis prevention from here, i would like to proceed to the other major challenge for the central bank – to build up financial safety net. we know that a full - fledged financial safety net consists of two major pillars : crisis prevention and crisis resolution. efficient analysis is a sine qua non for every effort to prevent financial difficulties. of course, we have the problem that all models tend to be perfect in forecasting the past while their predictive power is unknown at best. therefore, our concern is how to build a network of institutions that would minimize the risk of a sudden shock. i would like to start this part by stressing the importance of the dialogue with market participants. the constructive discussions with bank managers serve two purposes. the commercial bankers know and in their own way understand both the market situation and the prevailing trends in the so - called " real economy ". thus, these regular discussions are most welcome complement to the economic analysis by central bank experts. but the regular contacts provide also a unique channel for moral suasion, for explaining central bank's concerns and in some occasions, possibilities to put pressure on managerial choices. obviously, these contacts are easy to arrange in a small country like estonia. we have made use of that opportunity and established dialogue with our financial sector on financial as well as on general economic issues, both on regular as well as on ad hoc basis. what we should do more is to have more in - depth contacts with the main strategic partners of our banks. the other essential, albeit specific element for crisis prevention is the pre - emptive involvement of the private sector in crisis resolution. i would like to point out two simple but effective principles that we have relied upon. firstly, the completely free movement of capital, both long and short term, has increased the credibility of our financial policy and, thus, encouraged strategic partners to take much longer term approach to their investments. that has by now resulted in a full integration of our banks into scandinavian markets. secondly, estonia has avoided volatile short - term capital

jacqueline loh : public - private partnership – the way forward for natural catastrophe risk management in asia opening address by ms jacqueline loh, deputy managing director of the monetary authority of singapore, at the 5th institute of catastrophe risk management symposium, singapore, 24 april 2014. * * * professor bertil andersson ( president, nanyang technological university, singapore ), professor haresh shah ( founding chairman, institute of catastrophe risk management ( “ icrm ” ) ), professor pan ( director, icrm ), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, good morning. introduction 1. it is my pleasure to join you today at the 5th icrm symposium. the theme for this year ’ s symposium, “ financing of natural catastrophes in asia – the role of private sectors, governments and regulators in natural catastrophe management ”, highlights the importance of having both the private and public sectors collectively manage natural catastrophe risks. management of catastrophe risks spans a spectrum of activities across the entire risk management value chain, from raising risk awareness, to promoting effective risk assessment and pricing, and co - developing ex - ante risk financing solutions. this is a very relevant discussion topic, at a time when asia is facing increasing vulnerability to natural catastrophes. 2. in keeping with the conference theme, i will be sharing a few observations on how we can strive towards sustainable risk financing using a public - private partnership ( “ ppp ” ) approach. asia is more at risk from natural catastrophes 3. over the last 30 years, asia has borne the brunt of natural catastrophe losses, accounting for almost half of the world ’ s estimated economic losses from natural disasters1. however, less than 5 % of the losses were insured, compared to 40 % in developed countries2. over the last five years, the region experienced a series of high - profile and very painful disasters such as the tohoku earthquake and tsunami in japan, floods in thailand, and the super typhoon haiyan in the philippines. losses from these three disasters are estimated to be close to usd 360 billion3, about the average gdp of the philippines and thailand in 2012. as these economies were underinsured, the bulk of the financial burden was ultimately borne by the governments. 4. the development of catastrophe risk management in asia is still at a nascent stage, compared to more mature markets in the us and europe. yet asia is expected to continue to experience a rise in natural catastrophe losses, as a result of climate change, and rapid population growth, urban