and benefits of the regulations we impose. finally, we need make access to finance easier. i have spoken about that in other contexts, and will not dwell on it here. before i move on, let me add some caveats. there is a danger when we discuss “ make in india ” of assuming it means a focus on manufacturing, an attempt to follow the export - led growth path that china followed. i don ’ t think such a specific focus is intended. first, as i have just argued, slow growing industrial countries will be much less likely to be able to absorb a substantial additional amount of imports in the foreseeable future. other emerging markets certainly could absorb more, and a regional focus for exports will pay off. but the world as a whole is unlikely to be able to accommodate another export - led china. second, industrial countries themselves have been improving capital - intensive flexible manufacturing, so much so that some manufacturing activity is being “ re - shored ”. any emerging market wanting to export manufacturing goods will have to contend with this new phenomenon. third, when india pushes into manufacturing exports, it will have china, which still has some surplus agricultural labour to draw on, to contend with. export - led growth will not be as easy as it was for the asian economies who took that path before us. i am not advocating export pessimism here – india has been extremely successful at carving out its own areas of comparative advantage, and will continue to do so. instead, i am counselling against an export led strategy that involves subsidizing exporters with cheap inputs as well as an undervalued exchange rate, simply because it is unlikely to be as effective at this juncture. i am also cautioning against picking a particular sector such as manufacturing for encouragement, simply because it has worked well for china. india is different, and developing at a different time, and we should be agnostic about what will work. more broadly, such agnosticism means creating an environment where all sorts of enterprise can flourish, and then leaving entrepreneurs, of whom we have plenty, to choose what they want to do. instead of subsidizing inputs to specific industries because they are deemed important or labour intensive, a strategy that has not really paid off for us over the years, let us figure out the public goods each sector needs, and strive to provide them. for instance, smes might benefit much more from an agency that can certify product quality, or

jorgovanka tabakovi : development of financial industry in the digital economy era address ( via video ) by dr jorgovanka tabakovi, governor of the national bank of serbia, at the opening ceremony of the 20th china international finance forum, 14 december 2023. * * * esteemed hosts, esteemed participants of the china international finance forum, it is a great honour to address you for again on behalf of the republic of serbia and the national bank of serbia, at the helm of which i have been for more than eleven years. dear friends, three years ago i said that it was not easy to speak about financial services in the digital economy era to you who are leaders in this area. but, it is not difficult either, because china is the type of leader who helps and encourages others to make progress as well. serbia is a good example of this, which is also reflected in the economic and financial cooperation underpinned by the mutual respect and friendship of the serbian president aleksandar vui and the chinese president xi jinping. in the past ten years, china has become serbia's important foreign trade partner. our cooperation has strengthened for an entire decade, ever since we signed the joint statement on deepening strategic partnership, making serbia the first country in central and east europe to set up strategic partnership with the people's republic of china. during this year's belt and road forum for international cooperation, we also signed 18 important agreements, of which the free trade agreement between our two countries is the most important one. china was the second - largest foreign investor in serbia in 2020 and 2021, and the largest foreign investor in 2022, with investments worth usd 1. 5 bn. thus, a third of the record - high fdis to serbia in 2022 came from china. trade in goods increased as much as 5. 4 times in the past ten years, with china becoming serbia's second most important trade partner in 2022. in january 2015, the national bank of serbia included the chinese yuan in the list of currencies traded in the serbian fx market. in 2021 and 2022 the chinese yuan was among the four top currencies traded between domestic banks and their clients in the serbian fx market, which is another important indicator of the strength of our economic and overall relations. with the people's bank of china, we concluded the memorandum of understanding on designating a clearing bank for chinese yuans in serbia, creating conditions