and international trade in the second era of globalization ’, journal of economic perspectives, volume 21, 3, 2007, pp. 131 - 154. f. p. hochberg, ‘ the iphone isn ’ t made in china : it ’ s made everywhere ’, the wall street journal, 31 january 2020. been lifted out of poverty. 7 this phenomenon has been so pronounced that between 1980 and 2008 the centre of gravity of global economic activity moved some 5, 000 km eastwards. 8 this shift in trade has also been accompanied by geopolitical shifts. * * * for all the successes i have listed, we must acknowledge that globalization has also created vulnerabilities. some have only recently become apparent. others have been brewing for a long time. 9 this brings me directly to the issue of global fragmentation. the covid - 19 pandemic and the geopolitical tensions following russia ’ s aggression against ukraine have highlighted the vulnerabilities associated with over - reliance on single suppliers or regions. these events have shown how specialization can improve efficiency but also lead to excessive concentration, creating bottlenecks in global supply chains. interdependence is increasingly perceived as a source of risk to national security. examples include the sudden interruption of russian gas flows to europe, or china ’ s export quotas on gallium. at the same time, several advanced economies have curbed technology exports to non - aligned countries. 10 geopolitical blocs are now considering how to manage specialization and international trade to ensure their supremacy in the race for technology. companies are already taking note. 11 geopolitical considerations are becoming more important in their foreign direct investment decisions. 12 in the european union ( eu ), companies have begun to implement de - risking strategies, mainly by replacing chinese suppliers with eu - based ones. 13 globalization is not over, but the geography of trade is changing. 14 at the global level, inequalities have decreased since the 1980s thanks to a reduction in the gaps between countries. see l. chancel, t. piketty, e. saez and g. zucman ( coordinators ), world inequality report 2022, world inequality lab, 2022. d. quah, ‘ the global economy ’ s shifting centre of gravity ’, global policy, volume 2, 2011, pp. 3 - 9. f. panetta, ‘ the future of europe ’ s economy amid geopolitical risks and global fragmentation ’, lectio

trust of our governments and are independent from politics that we can do what we have to do : ensure financial stability and confidence in the financial system. 1 / 4 bis - central bankers'speeches to play our part in building and managing a reliable financial system that ensures a stable and responsible provision of credit to the real economy, that ensures that citizens and companies can build their future, in the knowledge and confidence that their money is safe. in the knowledge, in the confidence, that they can pay their bills without any problems and that they can get credit to buy a house or start a business. that is our role in the team. to play that role best, it is important that we work together with the other team members. not only with the government, but also with other central banks, the financial sector and with the business community. i am therefore happy to be here now to further strengthen our ties with the central bank of curacao and st. maarten and with your business communities. i am also happy to be your guest today, because i know that you can and want to play an important role in the transition to a sustainable economy here on curacao. your actions make that clear. for instance, in the financial sector. i start there, because it is the sector i know best. but also because the financial sector is the hub for bringing savings and investments together. the hub that ensures that entrepreneurs can do business. the financial sector can only be a sustainable sector if it it focuses on more than just large companies. it is a sustainable sector if and when it also finances small and medium - sized enterprises. the cbcs is working hard to make this possible. why is this important? because this is how the financial sector can become more diverse and more inclusive, and therefore more sustainable. another way to make this happen is by providing basic payment accounts to people who currently do not have access to banking services. and by empowering those who are less experienced with financial matters to understand how the system works.. and, if necessary, by promoting digital skills. the cbcs is involved in all of this. a sustainable financial sector is also a sector that combats money laundering. it is very promising that a national risk assessment has been carried out in curacao. and that sint maarten is working hard to make this happen too. this assessment makes clear what the remaining vulnerabilities are. i hope and expect that these will be sufficiently addressed before the