and a credit bureau, will provide a sound basis to develop domestic financial systems and facilitate closer financial connectivity. technological innovation, notably fintech, also allows us to bypass many phases of traditional financial sector development. it is therefore crucial that we build necessary infrastructure corresponding to the changing financial landscape. in addition, as investment in these infrastructures, be it atm pool or clearing and depository services, typically requires a large amount of investment costs and technical expertise, countries should cooperate to build shared infrastructures in order to minimize investment burdens. at present, under the national e - payment plan, thailand is building the new retail electronic payment infrastructure, which can be used to promote payment systems connectivity for the aec in general and for the clmvt region in particular going forward. under the asean payment roadmap, our shared vision is to promote secure and efficient electronic payment channels, which will significantly lower business costs, reduce payment uncertainty, pave ways for growing e - commerce and promote financial inclusion. in this light, the bank of thailand is keen to collaborate with our regional counterparts to promote payment systems connectivity within the region. the third foundation is the work towards standardized rules and regulations. given our countries ’ diverse financial systems, the harmonization of rules and standards should be given a priority so as to strengthen financial interconnectedness on a sustained basis. in the same way that the airline industry harmonizes the regulation on cross - border supply of services, the finance industry should aim at employing internationally accepted principles on finance, which already exist, to help drive harmonization of rules and regulations. take the payment systems for instance. currently, different legacy systems among our countries mean that we are not able to “ talk ” with each other as seamlessly as we wish. adhering to the same standards, such as the one on financial messaging schemes, can help overcome this challenge. at this stage, the work to achieve harmonization on diverse aspects of banking businesses is underway, and if completed, will make financial transactions within the region much easier. the fourth factor is human capital development. financial professionals both working in the finance industry and regulators must be well equipped with a set of skills required to serve people of the region. the fast pace of technological and financial innovation indeed urges us to upgrade our capabilities in order to understand more complex financial activities and to cope with growing risks including those related to cyber security. at the same time, the long - standing challenges to promote access to basic financial services and improve financial literacy of

greece, hungary, poland, romania and turkey in the 1930s and 1940s. germany was not able to pay war reparations after world war i. since world war ii sovereign defaults have only occurred in developing countries and emerging economies, particularly in the period between 1980 and 2000. many of the countries pursued a policy that resulted in high inflation. it became increasingly difficult for these countries to raise loans in domestic currency, particularly loans with long maturities. attempts were made to keep inflation and the magnitude of foreign debt in check by pegging the domestic currency to the us dollar. but fiscal mismanagement often triggered currency crises, a fall in the value of domestic currency and a surge in foreign debt. this is when the government gave up and stopped servicing debt. the degree of losses incurred by creditors in connection with sovereign default has varied. the most recent default episodes have left creditors with losses ranging between an estimated 30 and 75 per cent. 7 these experiences will probably influence interest rates on sovereign loans when a country ’ s debt - servicing capacity is in question. carmen m. reinhart and kenneth s. rogoff ( 2009 ) : this time is different. eight centuries of financial folly. sverre steen ( 1954 ) : “ krise og avspenning ”, det frie norge vol 3. panizza et al ( 2009 ) : “ the economics and law of sovereign debt and default ”, journal of economic literature 47. a forum was established, the paris club, which meets regularly to find solutions to bilateral debt problems. the paris club consists of 19 creditor governments, including norway. a solution is contingent on the implementation of reforms in the debtor country as part of an adjustment program supported by the international monetary fund ( imf ). since 1956, the paris club has negotiated 417 debt reduction agreements with 87 countries. the paris club primarily negotiates debt relief with countries – often poor countries – that do not have access to traditional international funding markets. there is no supranational body for debt negotiations for countries that have borrowed in international capital markets. some years ago, the imf attempted to draw up a regulatory framework for governments and creditors, but did not receive the necessary support from member countries. the imf ’ s work has, however, led to more frequent inclusion of clauses in international loan agreements that facilitate constructive debt negotiations. 8 in our economic system, the bankruptcy system is a useful instrument. it enables businesses to put earlier mistakes behind them and