anselmo l s teng : overview of recent financial and economic developments in macao speech by mr anselmo l s teng, chairman of the monetary authority of macao, at the spring cocktail reception, macao, 15 march 2007. * * * the honorable secretary for economy and finance, mr. francis tam ; the honorable director of the economic affairs department of the liaison office of the central people ’ s government in the msar, mr. zhou zhikui ; the honorable chairman of the audit committee of amcm, mr. leonel alberto alves ; the honorable chairman of the macau association of banks, mr. ye yixin ; the honorable president of the macau insurers ’ association, mr. si chi hok ; the honorable president of the macau insurance agents and brokers association, mr. tou kam seng ; the honorable president of the federation of macau professional insurance intermediaries, mr. frank ip ; the honorable president of the macau financial markets association, mr. chan kam chun ; the honorable president of the association of macau financial employees, mr. ng chi peng ; the honorable president of the macau money changers association, ho hao chio ; distinguished guests, friends of media, dear colleagues ; spring is around although chill is occasionally being felt. on the occasion of this reception held in the melody of spring, we farewell the past and embrace the future. here, i take the liberty of representing the board of the monetary authority of macao ( amcm ) to extend our warmest welcome to mr. francis tam, the secretary for economy and finance ; mr. zhou zhikui, the director of the economic affairs department of the liaison office of the central people ’ s government in msar ; our distinguished guests and friends of media. moreover, i would like to express my sincere gratitude to mr. francis tam for his unremitting support and guidance ; to the government departments, all sectors of the society and the business communities for their support and co - operation. under the auspices of the central government and the visionary leadership of the msar government, macao manages to sustain its past growth momentum with favourable development noted in consumption, investment and trade. basked in a buoyant market, unemployment rate continues to spiral downwards, gdp regains its double digit growth while surplus is noted in international balance of payment and fiscal account. the credit rating of macao has also been raised from “ stable ” to “ positive

basle ii and we hope to catch up with those already on basle iii. ladies and gentlemen, i have looked at the programme planned for these five days and i note that it covers intricate and crucial issues in the art of bank supervision. i also note that you will also have an opportunity to hear a banker ’ s perspective of corporate governance and risk management among others. clearly, the topic selection and coverage should keep all participants excited not just to learn from the resource persons but also to share experiences across the region. i am convinced, therefore, that you do not need any urging from me to remain focused. bis central bankers ’ speeches ladies and gentlemen, one of our mandates as central banks is to ensure soundness and smooth functioning of financial institutions. we do this by contributing to the development of a system that effectively intermediates funds between savers and investors, and thereby supporting investment, trade, employment and economic development. we also have a responsibility to create effective supervisory frameworks and regulations with clear mandates, operational independence, defined accountabilities, appropriate tools and adequate resources. to ably do so, calls for insight into the operational environment, regional and international trends, as well as technical capacity which is central to this intermediate banking supervision workshop. the task ahead of you, therefore, is to learn and absorb as much as possible. thereafter, use the knowledge and make a difference. i am confident that you will leave this forum with a new mind set, that is, a pragmatic paradigm shift to put into practice what you will have learnt and, a renewed commitment to improve supervisory frameworks in your respective countries. once again, may i take this opportunity to weicome you all to this workshop and in particular to malawi. i also wish to welcome and thank our distinguished resource persons, for accepting invitations to come for this workshop. finally, ladies and gentlemen allow me to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to the reserve bank of zimbabwe, bank of tanzania, and standard bank malawi limited for releasing officials from their institutions to facilitate in this workshop. i wish you all the best during the workshop and your stay in blantyre. with these remarks, i declare this workshop officially opened. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches