better manage their rmb liquidity and played a significant role in offshore market development. these facilities will be reviewed from time to time with the aim of providing better liquidity support to the offshore rmb market. hong kong has also developed a highly efficient rmb clearing and settlement system. as i mentioned, its average daily turnover exceeded rmb1 trillion recently. we will continue to enhance the service capabilities of our rmb clearing and settlement system to keep pace with business growth. our system will complement the recently launched cross - border interbank bis central bankers ’ speeches payment system ( cips ) by the mainland authorities, making rmb business transactions even more convenient. conclusion in conclusion, china ’ s 13th five - year plan for 2016 – 2020 has reaffirmed its commitment to opening wider to the world, accelerating the opening up of the capital market and developing rmb as a convertible and freely usable currency. financial centres like hong kong and london, with their robust and mature markets, can play a major role in facilitating further usage of the rmb internationally. in this context, the hong kong – london rmb forum is an essential element in sharing our experiences and learning from each other, particularly in the areas of market and product developments. i wish you all a fruitful seminar. bis central bankers ’ speeches

yves mersch : islamic finance – partnerships opportunities between luxembourg and the arab countries speech by mr yves mersch, governor of the central bank of luxembourg, at the 5th economic forum belgium - luxembourg - arab countries, brussels, 17 november 2009. * * * excellencies, governor, ladies and gentlemen, good morning, i am very pleased to be here today, and i would like to thank the arab - belgium - luxembourg chamber of commerce for inviting me and especially its general secretary mr. hijazin. based on the agenda of this 5th economic forum, i am looking forward to hearing and learning and to explore potential partnerships opportunities between luxembourg and the arab countries in the field of islamic finance, which receives an increasing attention. in this perspective, i welcome and consider as essential such conferences that promote greater awareness of important developments within international banking. despite its traditional approach, islamic finance is a key “ innovation ” in the financial area since the seventies and i expect that today ’ s conference will provide an excellent opportunity to exchange information and ideas on current issues relating to this important sector. while efficient reactions to the global financial and economic crisis have been taken by government and central banks worldwide to stabilise the financial conditions of banks and reduce funding pressures, this unprecedented turmoil reinforces the need to revisit our economic and financial paradigm. the crisis suggests to some to deviate from markets driven economies and behaviours and to explore more ethical and humanistic values to drive sustainable value creation. one stream in this context is islamic finance promoting an alignment with the real economy. based on its prohibition of leverage activities, its principles of justice and participation, islamic finance is said to contribute to the reduction of the risk perception in the economy and hence its safe recovery. 1 specialists estimate the volume of islamic investments to exceed usd 750 billions and the pool of investible assets in the countries of the persian gulf and south east asia to reach usd 5, 000 billions. 2 in this part of the world, a non negligible part of the european population has ethical investment and placement needs based on the shari ’ ah that have, so far, not yet appropriately been addressed by the conventional banking offering. as of today, more than 38 millions muslims live in europe, representing more than 5 % of the population. 3 government and financial institutions alike try to cater for these needs. intrinsic difficulties for islamic financial institutions remain however related to the management of their liquidity and i will review how central banks, have engaged into different initiatives to