of the new environment. this may involve significant changes to the governance arrangements, the empowering legislation, the skills required, the role of communications, the human capital management and development and the organisational culture. indeed, capacity building is a further robust area of collaboration in the asian region. going forward, asia ’ s participation in the global economic and financial system is set to increase exponentially. as the countries of the region connect with each other and the rest of the world, there is every reason to hope for a better future of sustained stability and enhanced growth prospects for the benefit of the regional and world economy.

zeti akhtar aziz : the mandate and roles of asian central banks keynote address by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the bank of korea international conference 2010 “ the changing role of central banks ”, seoul, 31 may 2010. * * * it is my great honour to be invited to speak at the “ bank of korea international conference 2010 ”, held this year in conjunction with the 60th anniversary of the bank of korea. let me take this opportunity to congratulate the bank of korea on this special occasion. the bank of korea can take great pride in its achievements during these six decades. from its establishment in june of 1950, the bank of korea has devoted great efforts to provide a stable and conducive macroeconomic environment and to build an effective financial system that has facilitated the growth of the korean economy and its long - term sustainability. this recent decade has been the most challenging for policymakers, in particular, for central banks. in the late 1990s, the asian region was confronted with a severe crisis, and about a decade later, the world was confronted with a financial crisis of unprecedented global proportions. while asia was adversely affected by these crises, there was a rapid return to recovery, both during the asian financial crisis and during this recent global financial crisis. for the bank of korea, the courageous policy responses to some of the very tough challenges presented during these episodes can be judged by the results that have been achieved. there is now a cause for optimism in the present circumstance. korea is recognised as one of the economies that has been the fastest to recover from the crisis. the exceptional work by the bank of korea has been an important element in this unwavering resilience of the korean economy. as the nature of globalisation changes and as financial innovation intensifies, the world has become more complex and less predictable. while the trend for greater trade orientation continues, changes in comparative advantage and shifts in the direction of global demand have transformed the trade patterns in the global economy. in addition, the financialisation of savings and the increased diversification of these funds into financial markets have increased the impact of these markets on the real economy as the performance of these markets experience booms and bust. the greater integration of financial markets across borders has also increased the potential for its effects to be rapidly transmitted from one financial system to another market in another part of the world. in this new environment, the greater interdependence arising