is a shared responsibility, across the major regions of the world. several reasons have been cited as constraints to the process of adjustment. this include the relative lack of strength in domestic demand outside the us ; the large gap between saving and investment in major regions of the world ; and the fragmented structure of global capital intermediation that hinders surplus regions from financing productive investments within their region. it is important to recognise the important role that asia can have in contributing to rebalancing global growth and in so doing contribute towards global adjustment of the imbalances. in terms of economic growth, the region has consistently recorded performance that is, one - and - a - half times higher than the global average. on demographics, asia is home to more than half of the world's population, with a young and growing workforce, and expanding middle - class in a number of countries. robust domestic consumption and rising investment have therefore become important sources of growth. this has been supported by the rising income and increased productivity and the expansion of intra - regional trade. the increasing importance of intra - regional trade, which accounts for more than 50 % of asia's total trade, makes the region the next most integrated region after the european union in trade. this has positioned asia as the largest and fast - growing market in the world. in addition, the asian region has also embarked on measures to spur its economic openness by forging free trade agreements, which would contribute to increasing the capacity of the region and the potential of the region, in addition to improving prospects for contributing towards the rebalancing of global growth and the global adjustment process. combined with the region's traditionally high degree of economic openness with a total trade averaging 95 % of gdp in the region, it reflects asia's potential to be a self - sustaining and mutually reinforcing the region's growth. the greater degree of economic flexibility in the region in responding to shocks and the dynamic global conditions is a further feature that contributes towards strengthening the region's potential. while private consumption's contribution to domestic demand is becoming increasingly more significant in the region a renewed expansion in investment is also needed to create a more sustainable growth path. significant initiatives are already underway to increase the contribution of private investment and secure new areas of growth. these include improving the investment climate and reducing the cost of doing business. efforts would also continue to be on - going on the priorities in the region as countries have the potential to further expand the role of

. in this respect, the central bank will determine the interest rate policy to provide a sound environment for sustainable performance of the economy. macroeconomic policy would thus continue to stress growth in an environment of price stability. of importance, is to strengthen private sector - led growth. further efforts will therefore be undertaken to ensure that the economic and financial structures and systems are conducive for the building of a dynamic, resilient and flexible economy. the dynamics of growth and development in the region are reshaping our environment. effective chief executives and corporate leaders in this new environment need to develop accordingly taking into account the new requirements. in its programs, iclif has focused on these new dimensions of leadership development, particularly for the financial services sector. as a leadership development institution, iclif has also evolved over time by continuously reviewing the contents of its programs to match the needs of the rapidly changing environment. a review of the global leadership development program ( gldp ) has now been undertaken, based on the valuable suggestions and feedback from participants, faculty, facilitators and expert panel. refinements in the structure and content of the gldp are expected to be introduced in the subsequent sessions and will include, among other things, new areas such as geopolitical and economic trends, corporate entrepreneurship and innovation, diversity and inclusiveness, culture and corporate social responsibility. the us part of the summer program will also be changed. the change will bring participants closer to distinguished faculty from such renowned institutions as stanford, uc berkeley and ucla. let me now conclude my remarks. leadership is all about a vision for the future, setting the strategic direction for the organization and having the ability to translate the vision into results. this involves having the ability to promote the shared vision and energizing the organization to produce the results. as i have earlier mentioned to one of the groups of the gldp program " the quest for leadership excellence is a journey and not a destination. " when we talk about enhancing leadership capability, we are talking about leaders who are continuous learners, who strive for cutting edge excellence, leaders who have strong convictions and beliefs and yet having humility and recognizing the need to reinvent themselves and in doing so become dynamic leaders pushing the frontiers of excellence and having the courage to take on the new challenges. thank you.