efforts do not stop here. just to share a few examples of our discussion with mainland regulators on further enhancements. for wealth management connect, we are exploring ways to widen the product scope, enhance sales and promotion arrangements, and allow more financial institutions to participate. we are making progress and i look forward to sharing more with you in the very near term. for bond connect, we are looking to provide more interest rate risk management and liquidity management tools to global investors while expanding the list of southbound market makers. to further develop the recently launched rmb counter in the stock market, we are exploring the inclusion of the rmb counters in southbound stock connect. all of the above will deepen the two - way opening - up of mainland financial markets while further consolidate hong kong's role as an international financial centre. rmb internationalisation but hong kong's edge as the leading offshore rmb business hub is not just a matter of our mutual market access with the mainland. in fact, hong kong has the largest offshore rmb liquidity pool, occupies the top position for global rmb payments, and has a mature rmb business ecosystem which has been enhanced over the years. looking ahead, the long - term economic growth and capital account opening process of china would continue to provide impetus to further advancements of offshore rmb business. market participants would find rmb useful for their crossborder trade settlement as well as investment diversification amid the challenging global macroeconomic conditions. to meet growing rmb business demand, we will continue our efforts in enhancing rmb liquidity, product and infrastructure in our offshore rmb market. meanwhile, the tma has recently formed a working group of experienced rmb 3 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches specialists from banks in hong kong to gather views on offshore rmb market development. i look forward to the working group's proposals on opportunities and concrete steps in taking things forward. enhancement of our offshore rmb business platform allows us to strengthen our intermediary role which connects china and the rest of the world, and in turn promote wider use of rmb in the international markets. an increasing number of economies, including those in the middle east and the asean, want to use the rmb to settle their trade with china. so we are working with banks to promote more participation in our offshore rmb market from asean and the middle east. we think the industry can really play a big role in overseas promotion events. we also welcome the industry to build

credits, foreign direct investment and portfolio flows, have dropped significantly in the last few years. in the case of bank credits, total flows declined by about us $ 200 billion during the 1997 - 1998 period, although the decline has been at a more moderate pace in the last two years. in the light of this, it is important that the bank plays a catalytic role in mobilising resources within and outside of the region. one approach to this challenge would be for the bank to return to basics and improve the three channels of financial intermediation, namely, banking, equity and debt, through a number of measures. first, the bank could increase investment in the financial infrastructure in asia. just as physical infrastructure, such as airports and highways, facilitates the movement of people and goods, financial infrastructure, such as the payment and settlement systems for the banking and securities sectors, facilitates the safe and efficient movement of money. the importance of a robust payment and settlement system in this region is underscored by the events of 11 september. secondly, the bank could expand the technical assistance programme to assist economies in restructuring the banking sector. small and medium - sized enterprises employ the most workers in asia and they are mostly dependent on bank financing. the banking sector in asia, devastated by the asian financial crisis, has not fully recovered. banks understandably are adopting a very conservative lending strategy towards companies with a lower credit rating, such as small and medium - sized enterprises. the bank ’ s assistance in speeding up the banking sector reform would help smes to get back on their own feet, thereby reducing unemployment and poverty. thirdly, the bank could expand assistance in building up the institutional capacity of individual economies to improve corporate governance in the private sector. emphasis should also be made to improve the auditing, disclosure and transparency standards of publicly - listed companies. as seen in the asian crisis and again in the enron incident, good corporate governance is critical to restoring investor confidence in the equity markets. fourthly and lastly, the bank could assist with the development of the bond market in asia. clearly the financial intermediation process cannot be dominated by one or two intermediaries. earlier, in 1990, when it was the banks in the united states that seized up as a consequence of a collapse in the value of real estate collateral, the capital markets were able to substitute for the loss of bank intermediation. in asia, there is considerable room to develop a bond market to serve as a back - up in