gent sejko : convergence process challenges facing south - east europe and albania speech by mr gent sejko, governor of the bank of albania, at the 7th ecb conference on central, eastern and south - eastern europen ( cesee ) countries on " institutional quality and sustainable economic convergence ", frankfurt am main, 5 october 2017. * * * accompanying slides honourable participants, it is a pleasure for me to participate in this conference, and discuss about the role of our institutions in the eu economic convergence process, such a relevant topic nowadays. i believe sharing our knowledge and experience in this area is extremely beneficial to all of us. my thoughts will be organized along three main dimensions. to begin with, i will highlight some of the challenges that the see convergence process is facing, from bank of albania ’ point of view. next, i will briefly describe how albania is positioned across these dimensions. lastly, i will try to emphasise how the convergence process itself can be enhanced to anchor our policymaking. 1. see convergence process challenges the long - term political future and economic prosperity of the see region is firmly linked to eu convergence and integration processes. while individual countries have differences, a common specific they all share is the economic and political benefits from the process. the convergence process is difficult and full of challenges, most importantly, the risk of falling into a ‘ middle income trap ’, a feature that is especially relevant given the slowdown in the speed of convergence that the region experienced in the aftermath of the crisis. the main reasons that can entrap an economy in a middle - income level are a low level of innovation, poor quality of institutions and unfavourable demographics. from a certain point of view, the ability of any country to move up the development ladder depends on the upgrade of its internal economic system, from an efficiency - driven into an innovation - driven economy. obviously, upgrading the whole economic systems and adopting best practices is easier said than done. diminishing marginal returns on labour and capital, as well as a reduced scope for total factor productivity growth, coming mainly from imported technologies, decelerate growth and increase the risks of getting stuck in a ‘ middle income trap ’. therefore, progression to the next development stage requires improvement of the human capital stock, facilitation and innovation in production processes, advancement of domestically generated technology and expansion of high value added exports. in a nutshell, the see countries need to transform themselves into innovation - driven economies

zeti akhtar aziz : emerging trends in asia and their implications for malaysia keynote address by dr zeti akhtar aziz, governor of the central bank of malaysia, at the the asian banker summit 2003, “ post - asian financial crisis : securing financial stability ”, kuala lumpur, 16 september 2003. * * * ladies and gentlemen as we advance into the 21st century, sustainable performance demands resilience to the economic cycle, resilience to unstable market conditions and overall resilience in an environment of rapid change. to prosper in this new environment, we need to have the capacity to withstand the entire business cycle, to survive the increased volatility in the financial markets and to have the capacity and agility to adjust to the changes taking place. sustainable performance is key in achieving long - term relevance and success. to achieve this, it is important to look beyond the short - term perspective and build the capacity and the resilience to meet the new challenges that are emerging in this new environment. it is my honour and pleasure to be invited to this asian banker ’ s summit 2003. let me join the organisers in welcoming you to kuala lumpur. it was exactly five years since the countries in east asia have emerged from the financial crisis, when stability in the financial markets was restored and the economic recovery resumed. asia has now emerged as the fastest growing region. despite a more difficult external environment, the asian region has demonstrated resilience. the new trends emerging in asia point to significant transformation taking place in the economies in asia. these trends have contributed toward increasing the growth prospects for the region. today, my remarks will focus on these fundamental trends that have emerged in asia and the promise that they hold for the prospects for this region. i would also like to take this opportunity to share with you the implications of these trends for malaysia and the strategies and responses that we have adopted in addressing the challenges that we are faced with in this more difficult environment. emerging trends in asia : economic transformation in asia asia ’ s resilience can be traced to several important trends which have contributed to the economic and financial transformation of the region. the dynamic transformations taking place in our region are significant and varied. the region accounts for more than half the world ’ s population and 23 % of the world economy. the growth for the region as a whole is forecast to be one and half times higher than the global average. of significance, is the trend towards greater integration in the region on several fronts