and no one did before the fact – the rise in inflation that followed. nevertheless, we have managed to chart a path through this uncertainty. the challenge ahead is to ensure that inflation continues to fall and approaches our objective in a timely way, while at the same time growth strengthens to reach sustainable levels ensuring full employment. the nature of the risks we are facing is however unusual. increasingly, volatility in growth and inflation will be driven by a pair of major structural forces such as 2 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches geopolitical fragmentation and climate change, that we have next to no experience of. these risks are particularly difficult to quantify and forecast. they present a unique challenge for central banks – a challenge that calls for a different type of response. in this new and highly uncertain environment, we look to academics and researchers to guide us through uncharted waters. it is through path - breaking research, that policymakers'knowledge can grow. furthermore, from my perspective, it has become apparent that aggregate data are not enough, and policy makers need more granular data. micro data firstly improve our understanding of the transmission mechanism of monetary policy and secondly allow us to better understand the aggregate data and thus better forecast their evolution. the combination of methodological developments and the increased availability of granular data may facilitate much richer analysis and more informative quantitative estimation of the impact of various types of shocks and, crucially, the impact of various types of policy measures. that said, the european system of central banks is actively conducting research with the aim to deepen our understanding of how monetary policy transmits to the european economy. the bank of greece has an active research department which pursues several avenues of economic and financial research, both theoretical and empirical. in addition to its own research, the bank of greece is involved in research projects carried out within the wider context of the european system of central banks through its participation in various research networks. i would also like to point out that the bank of greece is one of the first central banks worldwide to engage in climate change and sustainability issues, having set up as early as in 2009 the climate change impacts study committee ( ccisc ). concluding, a major task of central bank research is to bridge the possible gap between academics and policy makers and to create occasions for interactions with the academic community. we trust that research is enhanced by exposure to external ideas and latest advances in the field. once again, it is a pleasure to host today's

exchange crisis a few years ago is a reminder. from the early 1990s the bank of greece, as the supervisory authority, laid down the rules and brought pressure to bear for the modernization and strengthening of the banking sector. to - day we coordinate our efforts with the commercial banks to promote the necessary adjustments in line with basel ii. the new international reporting financial standards and accounting standards, should make the banking system even more flexible, strengthen its capital base and improve its internal control and risk management systems. given also the significant presence of greek banks in the balkan countries the bank of greece has signed memoranda of understanding for cooperation with the supervisory authorities of these countries. greek firms have also risen to the task of responding to globalisation not by adopting a defensive strategy, but by embracing globalisation themselves. there have been very significant direct investments by greek firms abroad, especially in the balkans. this is particularly evident in the financial sector, where greek banks now occupy top positions in all our neighboring countries. about 5, 000 greek firms, mostly small to medium - size enterprises but also a few large ones, are now operating in the balkan countries and greece is between the three biggest investors in the region. this inevitably entails some delocalisation of part of greece ’ s manufacturing and trading units. however, so long as they retain in greece their high value added activities ( their headquarters, their commercial and their research activities etc ), this delocalisation in the long run helps both the host and the home country economy. i always try to give an example : the uk lost some 3. 5 million industrial jobs ( 50 % decrease ) between 1978 and 2003 and gained over this period some 3 million jobs in the financial sector ( 100 % increase ) ; as the value added in the latter may be 4 times higher than in industry, the total gain for the economy has been enormous and is the main explanation of the success growth story of the uk in the last couple of decades. i have repeatedly stressed the example of london as a financial center, and all factors favours athens for becoming a regional financial center, not only for the balkans but even for countries further away. likewise, athens and thessaloniki can become trading centers for companies operating in the wider area. attracting foreign firms should form a central part of our future strategy. in the foreign direct investment league, especially in manufacturing, greece unfortunately comes close to the bottom in europe. but this hides the fact that many foreign firms, either completely on their own or in