amando m tetangco, jr : the 2006 bsp praise awards – a harvest of excellence speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the 2006 bsp praise awarding ceremony, manila, 25 july 2007. * * * members of the monetary board, civil service commission field officer eva olmedillo, our 2006 bangko sentral praise awardees, fellow central bankers, magandang umaga po sa inyong lahat! i am very pleased to know from deputy governor andy suratos and director dong asperilla that this morning we have a total of 460 awardees under our 2006 praise program. these are awardees who scaled the bar of excellence within the bangko sentral ng pilipinas! ladies and gentlemen, let us congratulate and thank our awardees by giving them another well - deserved round of applause! excellence is what we strive for at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas. excellence in the pursuit of our mandate to ensure stable prices and a sound banking system. excellence in the way we do things. we should be conscious of this at all times, for our actions here at the bangko sentral affect the lives of millions of filipinos. filipinos we have pledged to serve to the best of our abilities. arthur schelesinger, jr., the american historian and social critic, once said “ excellence is the eternal quest. we achieve it by living up to our highest intellectual standards and our finest moral intuitions. ” i hope therefore that excellence will be the constant standard at the bangko sentral. while the bangko sentral is consistently regarded as a top performing government agency, you and i know there are still many areas we can improve on. this is the focus of our ongoing strategic planning sessions. i challenge our awardees as well to expand the circles of excellence in their respective areas, to become good role models, and to serve as constant inspiration to their colleagues. never lose sight of what your awards stand for : bangko sentral ’ s commitment to excellence in serving the filipino people. muli, bigyan po natin ng mainit na palakpakan ang ating mga awardees! finally, let us acknowledge the significant contributions of the following to the continuing success of the bangko sentral ng pilipinas with a big round of applause : the members of our

rasheed mohammed al maraj : impact of technological innovation in bahrain address by his excellency rasheed mohammed al maraj, governor of the central bank of bahrain, at the middle east financial technology exhibition & conference ( meftec ), manama, 11 february 2008. * * * good morning ladies and gentlemen, i am pleased to welcome you to bahrain for the 4th middle east financial technology exhibition & conference, meftec as it is popularly called. this morning, as i look around, i am happy to see that this event is arousing so much interest and is attracting more and more participants each year, a clear testament to ita€™s success. i would like to thank the organizers for their efforts in enhancing and improving each event and the delegates for their participation. i wish you a pleasant stay here. bahrain, as many of you may already know, is best known for its success in banking and finance, an industry whose global reach and, indeed, penetration into every household, would not have been possible without information technology. in short, information technology has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the way we, as individuals, live and work, on the economies of countries and on the world. while we all welcome and embrace technological innovation, the acceleration in technology also brings with it newer challenges for financial services regulators, such as the central bank of bahrain. information technology has made possible the creation, valuation, and exchange of complex financial products on a global basis and, often, in real - time. as our banks increasingly engage in these technology - driven, i would urge them to take greater precautions in managing all the risks involved. the management of risk is an issue which the cbb takes very seriously, as demonstrated by our regulatory requirements and examination procedures, which we continue to review and upgrade, when ever necessary. as the financial sector relies more and more on technology, the issue of maintaining business continuity in the face of any kind of disruptions, we believe, is essential from a business and reputational perspective. effective from the beginning of this year, all banks in bahrain are required to maintain proactive business continuity planning that ensures delivery of critical services or products is maintained even during a disruption. ladies and gentlemen, i am sure you are all eager to see what the exhibitors have to offer. i thank you for joining us today and again extend my appreciation and thanks to the organizers and exhibitors.