and services marketable are a set of characteristics that distinguish us from others. this is inherently a “ branding issue. ” as more financial products are made available and technology allows us to move beyond national borders, we need to be clear about who we are and what the philippine banking system stands for. i believe that this will be a vital component of our efforts to prepare for an integrated asean banking community and the further entry of new foreign banks and foreign investors into our banking sector under republic act 10641 and republic act 10574 respectively. the branding characteristics that i have in mind do not pertain to specific facets of products. instead, i would like to highlight how risk management, good corporate governance and consumer protection can and have made a real difference in ensuring the stability of our banking system. it is this stability that underpins our banks ’ value proposition to savers, while providing a viable counterparty for borrowers. the value of risk management cannot be overstated. in a market where uncertainty and risks are hallmark issues, a bank can only be viable as a two - way agent between savers and borrowers if it is able to effectively manage its risk exposures. this certainly matters to depositors who rely on banks to keep their savings safe. products you offer may have bells and whistles ; but in the end, they are only as good as your promise to make the underlying funds available when depositors need them. it matters as well to your borrowers. your ability to keep the bank operating in a safe and sound manner allows them to build a lasting relationship that supports their entrepreneurial initiatives, services their payment requirements, handles personnel accounts and manages their own corporate savings and investments. in the end, effective risk management is the skill that allows market stakeholders to operate as a going - concern. this is a skill unique to banks and it must be a success factor that distinguishes the philippine banking brand from the rest. bis central bankers ’ speeches actually, we have achieved such distinction. in the december 2013 report of moody ’ s, the philippines was the only banking system rated with a “ positive outlook ” from among the jurisdictions it reviews. in a recent press statement, moody ’ s declared that it “ maintains positive outlook on philippine banking system in line with our expectation that gdp growth will remain one of the strongest among emerging - market economies over the next 12 – 18 months. ” for its part, fitch said that the fundamentals of our banking sector “ remain stable as capitalization is high

- central bankers'speeches safe, secure, and efficient payment system, we are pushing for digital payments. this includes the use of innovative digital payment rails, such as instapay, pesonet, and qr ph. building on these payment systems, we have also rolled out bills pay ph, which you can use to pay your bills, palengqr which you can use to pay your market vendors, and egov pay which you can use, if you are a taxpayer here, to pay the government. these programs have helped us surpass our goal of digitalizing at least half of total retail payments. as of end - december 2023, 52 percent of these payments were done digitally. working with the bank for international settlements, we are trying to connect our fast payment system with those of our asean ( association of southeast asian nations ) neighbors as well as india, saudi arabia, and other countries with fast payment systems. this platform is called project nexus. once this is in place in two years, this platform will make cross - border retail transactions more secure, more efficient, and less costly. meanwhile, we are painfully aware that our geography makes us especially vulnerable to climate change. just last week, we witnessed typhoon carina that made this vulnerability all too evident. hence, we have issued guidelines for the management of risks related to environmental, social, and governance issues. at the same time, we have developed a taxonomy for banks for sustainable finance. this will allow banks to tag each of their activities as environmentally or socially sustainable. economic fragmentation let me now turn to you, the consular corps for help. we need your help for one increasingly important concern - that of economic fragmentation. for decades after world war ii, increasing globalization was the norm. most governments believed in its benefits, and thus, most wanted to be part of it. but for almost two decades now, globalization has been losing ground to global fragmentation. in recent years, fragmentation has been fueled by the global financial crisis, trade wars, trade disruptions caused by the russia - ukraine conflict. as we all know, global trade is now on its back foot. according to the world bank, the average annual number of new trade agreements in the 2020s is less than half of that of the 2000s. in contrast, the number of new trade - restricting measures in 2022 and 2023 has tripled relative to 2019. this has led to a slowdown in the growth of trade. it appeared from 2020 to