ardian fullani : strengthening the capacities of the bank of albania speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the closing ceremony of the ipa - funded twinning project on strengthening the capacities of the bank of albania, tirana, 16 july 2012. * * * dear guests, central banks, since their inception, have been vested with a “ veil of mystery ”. this relates to their exclusive right to issue money, set a loan interest rate and control liquidity in the market. precisely, this important role of central banks and the recent global developments put these institutions on the spotlight. responding to these developments, central banks worldwide, in perfect coordination with one another and in addition to traditional instruments, took extraordinary measures that had never been employed before. through those measures, they intended to provide sufficient liquidity in the market, with a final goal, which has remained unchanged since ancient times, to restore public confidence in financial institutions. the emperor tiberius, dating to a. d. 33, had to inject one million gold pieces of public money into the financial system to keep it from collapsing. today, cooperation and coordination among central banks have become an integral part of institutional management. technological developments and the globalisation process have aroused the need for coordination among decision - making institutions all over the world. imagine the developments following the world war ii, when central banks widely accepted their transition from private to public ownership and when they realised that it was not only necessary but also imperative to cooperate, regardless of physical barriers. imagine, for example, the president of the federal reserve, who wasted three months to travel to europe and two weeks to receive a letter from his homologues overseas. actually, central banks have increased their efforts for a better and more fruitful cooperation. this is an undeniable truth. it has been a distinct feature of our work in recent years. since my first public appearance as governor of the bank of albania, i have pronounced my ambition for bank of albania ’ s legal and institutional transformation in line with the model of the european system of central banks ( escb ). i am fully confident that the successful conclusion of the twinning project with the banca d ’ italia and banque de france is another determinant step forward in the joint efforts to strengthen cooperation and elevate our work standards to european levels. today, we see that, in a few months, a brilliant idea has turned into reality and the project has been crowned with success.

of the euro through lower transaction costs. this may, in turn, facilitate the development of the euro as a vehicle currency for trade and commodity pricing. in addition, if international investors and issuers consider the euro to be a stable currency, they will hold more euro assets to minimise risks in their internationally diversified portfolios. two processes of great significance for the world economic and political order have unfolded in the last decades : economic globalisation and european integration. they are partially linked. yet they have different roots. one is the fruit of technological process and the free forces of the markets. the other has been motivated by political will and vision. regional integration and international co - operation are surely appropriate means to promote more stability and economic growth in the different parts of the world and to contribute to humanise the process of globalisation. * * * the euro banknotes show windows, gateways and bridges. these symbols of openness and communication will help both to promote a feeling of shared identity and to further strengthen exchanges among the nations of europe. at the same time, these symbols are a reflection of the european attitude towards the rest of the world.