– 278 ; and rey, h. ( 2001 ), “ international trade and currency exchange, ” the review of economic studies, vol. 68, no 2, pp. 443 – 464. in line with this, it is conventionally believed that it took between 30 and 70 years for the us dollar to dethrone the pound sterling as the leading international currency once the united states surpassed the united kingdom as the leading global economic powerhouse and trading nation ( see triffin, r. ( 1960 ), gold and the dollar crisis : the future of convertibility, new haven : yale university press ). but more recent scholarly work suggests that this change occurred faster than conventionally assumed because the increasing returns of networks may not be as strong as commonly posited ( see, for example, chitu, l., eichengreen, b. and mehl, a. ( 2014 ), “ when did the dollar overtake sterling as the leading international currency? evidence from the bond markets, ” journal of development economics, vol. 111, pp. 225 – 245 ). [ 12 ] see eichengreen, b., mehl, a. and chitu, l. ( 2017 ), how global currencies work : past, present and future, princeton university press. [ 13 ] on the prospects for a multi - polar monetary system, see also benassy - quere, a. and cœure, b. ( 2010 ), “ le role international de l ’ euro : chronique d ’ une decennie ”, revue d ’ economie politique, vol. 120, pp. 355 – 377. [ 14 ] official reserve managers, including the ecb, have diversified a small part of their portfolios towards non - traditional currencies, with the shares of the chinese renminbi, australian dollar, canadian dollar and other non - traditional units trebling to about 7 % of global foreign exchange reserves. [ 15 ] in purchasing power parity terms, the united states accounts for about 15 % of world gdp, compared with 11 % for the euro area. economic size is an important determinant of international currency use in random matching models considering currency choice as a double - coincidenceof - wants problem ( see matsuyama, k., kiyotaki, n. and matsui, a. ( 1993 ), “ toward a theory of international currency, ” the review of

markets participated in the systemically important international fora. i think you all agree at this advanced economies or emerging markets are all prone to sectoral imbalances, which, if left unchecked, can lead to a full - blown crisis, anywhere, any time, when the bubbles burst. the impact of a crisis in an advanced, systemically important country can be much broader and deeper, creating a larger scale of world - wide externality. emerging markets, unlike others, have had our share of coping with new challenges brought on by this phenomenon as well as those created by us one decade ago. it is, therefore, not only the responsibility of advanced countries to be in charge of global surveillance but also the responsibility of emerging markets to share our views and experiences of how to reform ourselves to be better prepared for greater uncertainty. against this background, this calls into question whether the surveillance mechanisms available at the moment and the role played by emerging markets in international cooperation are adequate in ensuring international financial stability, the essence of the mission of ifis. it is therefore in times of crisis that the value of the international cooperation be measured and the voice and representation of emerging markets be heard ifis. the unprecedented events of the past months present a historic opportunity for the international bodies to rise to the challenge. the time has come for them to be more proactive and become truly global institutions. apart from strengthening the roles of ifis, i believe that regional cooperation can play an important role in supplementing both national and global responses. i ’ d like to raise two observations on this issue. first, the global financial crisis highlights the need to put in place an effective regional surveillance mechanism that can detect weakness early on. international financial institutions will remain useful for global surveillance and financing balance of payments need when necessary. however, waiting for the global community through international financial institutions for regional surveillance may be too little too late for timely policy measures that can safeguard the region from contagion from other parts of the world. indeed, it is very important for policymakers with common challenges to put greater efforts in having a clear and in depth understanding of one another ’ s policy and practices. this will, in turn, help raise the comfort level and can usefully avoid potential policy missteps and create policy synergies that eventually foster confidence of investors. this is the kind of trust that no amount of legal text, conditions precedent, or covenants can match, but is developed through the friendship and goodwill among friends within