being undertaken to promote a more favorable business and investment climate. let me end by saying that overcoming the challenges we face can be made easier if we maintain an open line between private enterprises and the government sector and recognize the important role each one has to play. this is the reason why the bsp is taking the initiative of bringing us together regularly in this exporters ’ forum. previous discussions had been quite fruitful and in fact yielded positive results for some. i hope this forum will be productive and will serve to open more avenues for mutual linkages within the export industry. thank you very much and i look forward to hearing your views.

amando m tetangco, jr : of ironies and synergy speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of bangko sentral ng pilipinas ( bsp, the central bank of the philippines ), at the first asean corporate governance conference and awards “ governance transformation in asean : reform and priorities ”, manila, 14 november 2015. * * * can self - interest lead to the greater good? prior to adam smith1 it was counter - intuitive to say, “ yes. ” human nature, in its narrowest sense, if you must, is anathema to the proposition that individuals naturally uphold the common good. but proceeding from smith ’ s theory, we tap individuals ’ natural inclination to pursue their own interests. we motivate them to see that good governance works to their benefit. self - interest therefore is channelled to nationally desirable ends. another “ irony ” results - supervised entities are now competing to adopt good governance principles! in doing so, there is cooperation with regulated entities. competition toward cooperation. this provokes another thought : can the regulator partner with the regulated? i believe so. when standards are merely imposed from the top - down, results can be unsustainable. to have sustainability, interests of the regulator and the regulated must converge. can more granular measurement lead to unlimited possibilities? in the asean capital markets forum ( acmf ), i believe the answer is “ yes ”. since its initiation four years ago under the acmf implementation plan, the asean corporate governance scorecard ( acgs ) has raised awareness for tangible benefits of good governance practices among publicly listed companies. the scorecard has become increasingly more than a compliance metric or tickbox. rather, it is now a tool to achieve organizational alignment and focus. 2 oecd studies show that investors have greater confidence in firms whose governance standards are measured and clearly understood, consequently allowing better access to equity and debt finance3, leading to reduced cost of capital4, and thus translating to improved share value5. these are goals both regulators and the regulated desire. since the initiative began in 2011, regulators have championed good governance principles. it is for “ your own good, ” we say. and, we have not been off - the - mark in our pronouncement. our advocacy has been heard. mckinsey has found that boards of directors of corporations are increasingly “ more confident in their knowledge of the companies they serve and more strategic in