make 1 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches reforms a reality. the symposium will discuss both immediate issues, such as strengthening external resilience, as well as long - term structural issues such as our labour market and the role of finance in our economy. ladies and gentlemen, sasana symposium is more than just keynotes and in - depth, technical discussions. the symposium is also about demonstrating how reforms and policy are more than just abstract concepts and ideas, about how reforms can make a positive impact in the lives of malaysians. for example, itekad, a social finance programme which we launched at the height of the pandemic has been making inroads. we're happy to share today that over six thousand small and micro businesses have benefitted from itekad, with them seeing almost a 90 % increase in monthly sales and creating job opportunities in their communities. i would like to invite you to drop by the itekad marketplace – just outside our museum and art gallery – to meet microentrepreneurs that have gained from the itekad programme. itekad is a human example of how the public and private sector can come together to make a meaningful, lasting impact in the lives and livelihoods of malaysians. ladies and gentlemen, to conclude, sasana symposium was originally conceived as a platform for discussing key issues and research of our flagship publications – the annual report, the economic and monetary review and the financial stability review. our experience last year proved that this was an impactful occasion for us to engage the public in meaningful dialogue, and exchange perspectives on our work and thinking to promote monetary and financial stability for sustainable economic growth in malaysia. my hope is that you will leave sasana symposium with a better appreciation of what we do, and your part in helping us secure a better future for all malaysians. thank you. 2 / 2 bis - central bankers'speeches

jun il kim : achieving balanced growth and promoting economic development opening remarks by mr jun il kim, deputy governor of the bank of korea, at the international seminar 2012, hosted jointly by the bank of korea and the daegu - gyeongbuk development institute, daegu - gyeongbuk, 14 november 2012. * * * good afternoon. distinguished speakers, participants, and ladies and gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to speak at this international seminar hosted jointly by the bank of korea and the daegu - gyeongbuk development institute. i am very grateful to all speakers, particularly those who traveled from abroad to attend this seminar, and president seong - keun lee of the daegu - gyeongbuk development institute. i find this seminar is quite timely, and addresses very topical issues that we should tackle to achieve balanced growth. balanced growth has received a great deal of attention not only at the national level but also at the international level. global imbalances were at the root of the global crisis. the euro ’ s fragility as a common currency also stems from the growing imbalances within the euro area, particularly between the core and the periphery. indeed, the central theme of the g20 process is to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth. balanced regional growth is an imperative from korea ’ s perspective, given its far reaching implications on economic resilience and social cohesion. for instance, uneven economic development across regions over the past five decades or so has resulted in too much concentration of economic activities in the seoul metropolitan area and therefore too little utilization of available resources of other regions. such regional disparity has then undermined social cohesion, political unity, and economic competitiveness of the national economy. moreover, it is never optimal from the efficiency point of view because the marginal return on investment is far from being equalized across regions. daegu - gyeongbuk region is a victim of such regional disparity. at present, it accounts for about 10 percent of national gdp and population, down from above 12 percent two decades ago. it was a home of korea ’ s prospering textile industry until the 1980s but gave its way to china afterwards. this region has struggled since then to find a new engine of growth, despite some limited success in attracting investment in mobile electronics and steel industries. i believe that key to successful regional economic development is the quality of less mobile production