growth rate intensified as the year unfolded, rising to a rate of 5. 8 % at the start of 2005. this acceleration has been driven by a higher increase in private consumption and the renewed buoyancy of construction coupled with a pick - up in investment in equipment. households ’ expenditure has been underpinned by the recovery in their disposable income, which has benefited from higher employment growth and from a comparatively favourable contribution by general government, through the net effect of benefits and taxes. but above all it is the increase in household wealth in recent years - largely linked to the rise in real - estate asset values - and favourable financing conditions which are most underpinning household consumption and residential investment decisions. the behaviour of productive investment has, in recent years, reflected the opportunities and uncertainties of this expansionary phase, many of them related to the external environment. however, business investment progressively took a lead from the robustness of demand during 2004 and it started the current year on a clearly more expansionary path. lax financial conditions, the healthy position achieved by those corporations with most investment potential and favourable expectations about economic developments are behind this rise. set against the increase in domestic demand, external demand has exerted an increasingly contractionary influence. although world trade picked up in 2004, goods exports grew less than external markets, while imports climbed at very high rates, increasing their penetration in the spanish market. tourism is feeling the effects of competition from nearby destinations offering packages similar to those of spain at very competitive prices. the negative contribution of external demand to gdp growth thus continued to expand over the course of 2004, without any signs of a turnaround in 2005. on the contrary, according to national accounts data for q1, the contractionary effect of net external demand has stepped up significantly, against a backdrop of stronger domestic demand pressures driven by high consumption and vigorous construction spending combined with a clearer take - off in investment in capital goods. among the factors influencing this negative behaviour of net external demand, the causes and repercussions of which i shall return to later, are the persistence of inflation differentials. indeed, the inflation differential with the euro area widened during 2004, reflecting a relatively sharper impact of dearer oil on spanish prices. moreover, although the growth rate of labour costs eased, it remained relatively high. as a result, the 12 - month increase in consumer prices rose from 3. 2 % in december to 3. 5 % in april. it is expected to moderate in the

e - payments, progress has been in enabling the interoperability of ewallet services offered by banks and non - bank e - money issuers. malaysia is also fostering greater retail payment linkages with the region. as malaysia lays the foundation for orderly transition to a low carbon economy, opportunities are aplenty for investments in green infrastructure. the recently announced budget 2021 continues the green tech financing scheme that would encourage private sector participation in green technology. the malaysian government also plans to issue its first sustainability bond for environmental and social initiatives next year. together with securities commission malaysia, bank negara malaysia co - chairs a joint committee comprising officials from the stock exchange and industry to collaborate on building climate resilience within the malaysian financial sector. we are currently developing a principles - based taxonomy – to guide financial institutions to classify economic activities that contribute to climate change objectives. these complement efforts by the islamic finance industry in driving the sustainability agenda through the value - based 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches intermediation strategy. there are many reasons to be optimistic on the future of asean - china economic ties. asean became china ’ s largest trading partner in first quarter 2020. trade and investment flows grew despite the crisis. china ’ s direct investment in asean in first three quarters this year surged 76. 6 percent year - on - year. 1 investment from asean into china increased by 6. 6 percent yearon - year, and malaysia is among the top investors. 2 many cooperative projects under the framework of the belt and road initiative resumed rapidly after the initial shock of covid - 19. i echo our prime minister ’ s call last week for asean and china to fully tap the potential of the digital economy as part of our efforts to build a stronger economic region. opportunities can also be unlocked for investments on green infrastructure – such as renewable and energy - efficient technologies, as well as addressing basic infrastructure gaps in a fiscally constrained environment. malaysia certainly welcomes china as a partner in this journey and we hope to see closer relations with chongqing. i am certain this summit will explore these further and i wish the summit success. thank you. remarks by ambassador deng xijun at the 3rd jakarta forum on asean - china relations in 2020 : “ reinforcing regional economic recovery amid covid - 19 ”, 2 november 2020. 2 malaysia is number three after singapore and thailand. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches