this last decade of the 20th century has seen the japanese economy experience its lowest growth since the end of the second world war. despite several economic stimulus measures from both the monetary and fiscal side, the response of the economy has been generally slow and we have yet to confirm any clear revival of economic dynamism led by private demand. taking into account the weakness of private demand over the past ten years, it is perhaps natural to think that there might be something “ structural ” which has contained economic dynamism. if this is the case, it is difficult to expect a long - lasting recovery, if any, based solely on macroeconomic stimulus measures. hence, to restore vitality to the japanese economy in the medium term, painstaking efforts must be made to resolve each structural problem so as to enable the nation ’ s economic potential to fully blossom. and such efforts are also necessary if both monetary and fiscal policy are to have their full effect. since many structural problems stem from the supply side of the economy, resolving them requires that we send the appropriate signal and give the right incentives to the public. as evidenced by reaganomics in the u. s. and thatcherism in the u. k., supply - side policies would most likely be accompanied by various pains and require a long period until reforms take root among the public and bear real fruit. it is indeed for this reason that we need to reach an early consensus as to the nature of the structural problems in japan and thus come up with the right prescriptions. some say that structural problems encompass a variety of issues, not only economic ones but also demographic, educational, and environmental ones. but, today, i will focus on three economic issues which are interrelated and have a particularly strong impact on japan ’ s macroeconomic performance : first, the delay in cleaning up the balance sheet of firms ; second, changes in economic growth mechanisms under globalization ; and third, the imbalance between savings and investment. iv. delay in cleaning up the balance sheets of firms the most immediate lingering structural problem is that we have not yet completed the disposal of assets and liabilities that ballooned during the bubble period. in the wake of the bursting of the bubble, we first saw the collapse of firms which had expanded their liabilities based on aggressive management plans, and then the accumulation of non - performing assets on the part of financial institutions. this, in turn, reduced the risk - taking ability of financial institutions by eroding their capital position, resulting

zeti akhtar aziz : developing effective leaders in asia speech by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia ( bank negara malaysia ), at the launch of the iclif ’ s asian leadership index, kuala lumpur, 1 april 2014. * * * it is my pleasure to welcome you here this morning for the launch of iclif ’ s asian leadership index. the asian leadership index, is part of an important stream of global research on the expectations on leaders in today ’ s world. the world is rapidly changing, and is becoming more challenging. effective leaders must act in full recognition of the fact that their best followers will demand more of them. this is because in many cases their expectations of leaders have shifted in an age where information flows have intensified and where travel has removed all our known boundaries. the asian leadership index is a substantive, broad - based research on asia. the focus on asia is because the region is becoming increasingly more significant in the global landscape. and yet, there exists little, if any, systematic study of leaders doing business in asia. the asian leadership index therefore aims to contribute towards a greater understanding of “ what do business leaders in asia need to do to get more energy and commitment from their most important followers? ” as part of the study, selected senior leaders and emerging leaders in companies operating in asia were asked to describe what their leaders need to do for them as professionals if they were to participate wholeheartedly with that leader, and be fully invested in their organizations over the longer term. they also indicate what they see as missing from the leaders to whom they report. as leadership is about being able to deliver results even in the most challenging of environment, it is therefore also about generating the drive and energy in the organisation, and thus creating an environment in which the best talent will gravitate to, and contribute with the same energy and drive. in an international environment in which high quality talent is scarce, this aspect of the expectations of leadership becomes important. in essence, leaders need to be supported by high powered and committed teams. the expectations of talent is however not only rapidly evolving but may differ when contextualised to different parts of the world. this study undertaken by iclif provides insights on such expectations of leaders in asia and on the areas that need to be addressed if sustainable impact and influence is to be achieved. what then are the findings of the study? i will leave this for the presentation by kate sweet