peter pang : pilot platform for cross - border investment and settlement of debt securities remarks by mr peter pang, deputy chief executive of the hong kong monetary, at the press conference on pilot platform for cross - border investment and settlement of debt securities – hong kong, malaysia and euroclear bank, hong kong, 13 march 2012. * * * deputy governor muhammad ibrahim, mr anso thire, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. let me welcome you all to this press conference to announce the launch of the strategic alliance of the cross - border bond investment and settlement platforms in hong kong, malaysia and euroclear bank. the pilot platform to be launched on 30 march under this strategic alliance goes well beyond commercial cooperation amongst the partners. it will advance the important policy objectives of fostering bond market development and promoting financial stability at both global and regional levels. there are strong demand and supply side factors that focus global investors ’ attention on bond markets in asia. on the demand side, the european sovereign debt problems and successive downgrades of sovereign credit ratings of the advanced economies underscore the need for geographical diversification by global investors. asia is the obvious choice as it stands out as the bright spot and engine for global growth. according to imf ’ s forecast, emerging asia, with china as the core, will contribute about 57 % of the world ’ s gdp growth by 2016. augmenting this favourable demand factor is the improved credit ratings of asian sovereign issuers. there are now 14 asian economies at investment grades, of which, nine are at or above the single a rating. at the same time, the supply side factors are also highly favourable. the huge financing needs of asia will support a continuous expansion in bond issuance. according to the asian development bank, asia ’ s infrastructure financing needs alone amounted to usd 8 trillion from 2010 to 2020. equally important is the emergence of new and attractive bond asset classes. the two products that have caught most attention of global investors are the sukuks in malaysia and the rmb dim sum bonds in hong kong. this is rightly so as these products connect the global market with the vast and increasingly prominent financial systems in the islamic world and china. we have seen very encouraging development of the sukuk market in malaysia, the symbol of islamic financing. the amount of outstanding sukuks in malaysia increased substantially from myr 146 billion ( usd 41. 3 billion equivalent ) at the end of 2006 to myr 361 billion ( usd 113

njuguna ndung ’ u : east african monetary union opening remarks by prof njuguna ndung ’ u, governor of the central bank of kenya, during the east african legislative assembly workshop on the east african monetary union, nairobi, 4 march 2010. * * * honorable chairperson of communication, trade and investment committee of east african legislative assembly, hon. dahilo ; representative of the clerk of eala, mr. enock musiime ; honorable members of parliament from eala ; honorable members of parliament from kenya, uganda, tanzania, burundi, rwanda ; director of planning and infrastructure, eac secretariat, mr. phillip wambugu and other officials from the eac secretariat ; senior government officials from the eac ; distinguished delegates ; ladies and gentlemen : i am privileged by this invitation to participate in this important workshop on the east african monetary union being held here in nairobi. on behalf of the central bank of kenya and on my own behalf, i welcome you all to nairobi, kenya. honorable members of eala and eac national assemblies, this workshop comes at a time when east africans are anxious to appreciate the benefits from the east african community common market. the protocol on its establishment was signed in november 2009. the eac common market will ensure free movement of factors of people, services and capital across the five partner states. under the common market, goods will be freely traded when the region attains the status of a fully fledged customs union. as the honorable members are aware, the eac common market protocol has provisions that will guide elimination of capital restrictions that continue to impede free flow of capital among the eac countries. the cardinal principal of free movement of capital ties with the next level of integration that is the east african monetary union. in line with the regional integration as stipulated in the treaty provision, the 6th extraordinary summit of eac heads of state held in arusha, tanzania on 20th august 2007 underscored the need to move expeditiously towards establishing a monetary union by 2012. following that summit directive, governors of eac central banks met in kampala, uganda in january 2008 to map out a strategic framework for fast tracking the establishment of an east african monetary union by 2012. the meeting of governors of central banks in kampala decided on a comprehensive study of the east african monetary union whose major objectives were : i ) to take stock of the current state of preparedness of the eac partner states for a monetary union. among