inflows into the region, as japanese institutions are increasingly hard - pressed to secure adequate returns at home. as long - term interest rates decline further in japan due to the bank of japan ’ s new asset purchase programme, we can expect more “ search for yield ” activities. as interest rates are already very low in the region and asset price inflation is becoming a concern in many economies, asean policy makers need to remain vigilant against a build - up of domestic financial and asset market excesses. eu - singapore fta ( eusfta ) finally, as we seek to maintain an open economy and to stay relevant, singapore will work on deepening our engagement beyond the asia pacific, for example, with the eu. bis central bankers ’ speeches negotiations on the eu - singapore fta were recently concluded. this is the first fta which the eu has concluded with an asean country. the eu - singapore fta can serve as a pathfinder fta for eu ’ s on - going bilateral fta negotiations with other asean countries, such as malaysia and vietnam, and it signals the eu ’ s interest to engage with the region. when implemented, the eu - singapore fta will enhance singapore ’ s attractiveness as a gateway for eu companies seeking to tap the opportunities in our region. conclusion so ladies and gentlemen, to summarise, singapore is pursuing a strategy of broader and deeper economic integration with major economies through multilateral agreements, such as the rcep, tpp and eu - singapore fta. in addition, we are enhancing our role as a trusted and modern financial hub by expanding into new services, such as offshore renminbi trading. these initiatives will help investors and companies based in singapore to “ open doors ” and “ unlock value ”. let me once again express my appreciation to deutsche bank for holding the annual deutsche bank access asia conference in singapore and bringing together thought leaders, investors and policy makers together to find ways to tap the opportunities that are being created by asia ’ s economic growth. i wish you all a very fruitful conference. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

free flow of goods, services and investment within the region by 2015. let me update you on the progress so far. • on trade in goods, virtually all goods in asean already move throughout the region tariff - free1. we are now working on reducing non - tariff barriers. asean - 6 countries have eliminated tariffs on 99. 65 % of tariff lines effective 1 jan 2010. the clmv countries have reduced tariffs on 98. 86 % of their tariff lines to the 0 – 5 % tariff range in 2010, and are expected to eliminate tariffs on these goods by 2015, with flexibility for a few tariff lines until 2018. bis central bankers ’ speeches • on services, asean member states have recently completed the eighth package of commitments under the asean framework agreement on services. what this means is that we can expect the reduction of services barriers, such as foreign equity limits in the asean countries. • on investment, the asean comprehensive investment agreement entered into force in march last year. this agreement has established stronger, pro - business rules, with enhanced investment protection for both asean - owned investments and also foreign - owned investments based in asean2. singapore ’ s multilateral agreements however, to enable businesses to access major markets more easily, singapore has also broadened our engagement with asia pacific beyond asean. by doing so, we aim to reduce trading costs. to this end, singapore actively participates in negotiations of several multilateral trade agreements. one example of such a multilateral trade agreement is the regional comprehensive economic partnership, or rcep, which is a partnership between asean and six other countries, namely australia, new zealand, china, japan, india and south korea. regional comprehensive economic partnership ( rcep ) and renminbi ( rmb ) internationalisation this agreement builds upon the existing asean + 1 free trade agreements ( ftas ) ftas by bringing together asean ’ s existing ftas with its key partners into a single comprehensive agreement. rcep will be one of the biggest ftas in the world, covering 3 billion people and accounting for one - third of the world ’ s gdp. rcep is a significant agreement for asean. it is an ambitious attempt to deepen regional economic integration and to link asean ’ s various trading partners, many of whom do not have existing trade agreements with one another. one key partner for asean in rcep is china. china will continue to play an increasingly important role in trade with asean, and this will grow even further with its participation in rcep. in 2012