s economic integration to induce the desired prosperity, we need, besides the aforementioned conditions, to ensure that it is inclusive, mutually beneficial, and that it does not, above all, come at the expense of the most vulnerable countries and populations. ladies and gentlemen, in morocco, this has always been the preferred approach. believing in the virtues of free trade and market rules, the country has opted since the 1980s for openness and informed economic liberalism, where the quest fo9r efficiency and competitiveness is not to the detriment of social considerations and solidarity. 3 / 5 bis - central bankers'speeches in this respect, morocco's geographical and historical proximity to europe has not diverted it from forging partnerships throughout the world, and has, above all, never been at the cost of its african identity. his late majesty hassan ii used to say that " morocco is a tree whose roots are deeply anchored in africa and whose branches extend into europe ". the continent has always been at the heart of the country's strategic orientations, as reflected in many speeches made by his majesty king mohammed vi over the last quarter of a century. his majesty has often called for a win - win co - development and rolled out major projects like the morocco - nigeria gas pipeline, which should help diversify energy supplies for many countries on the continent, the contribution in ensuring food security on the continent, as well as the atlantic initiative, which aims to facilitate the commercial integration of several landlocked countries. our public policies on trade and investment generally dedicate a largely tailored and favorable treatment to relations with the rest of the continent, hence facilitating the establishment of several moroccan groups in financial services, mining, telecoms, real estate, etc. the development of casablanca finance city also falls within this approach and strives to create a regional financial and multiservice hub geared toward africa. the country is also home to the headquarters of africa50 and is working on its development to promote and facilitate investment in infrastructure. ladies and gentlemen, at bank al - maghrib, our international relations fall within this global vision charted by his majesty. we have encouraged and supported the banking sector to develop its external growth drivers in africa. we ensure that this expansion makes a real contribution to the development of host countries. moroccan banks are now present in over thirty countries on the continent, where they generate almost 23 percent of their business. as a central bank, we maintain close experience and expertise - sharing ties with many of the

regional seminar of the international financial corporation and bank al - maghrib on “ utilization of public credit registry data for the central bank ’ s institutional functions ” rabat, february 22, 2018 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - opening remarks by mr. abdellatif jouahri governor of bank al - maghrib - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - excellency the ambassador of japan, ifc country manager for the maghreb region, ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to welcome you today to the bank al - maghrib training center in rabat for this seminar on the “ utilization of public credit registry data for the central bank ’ s institutional functions ”. i would first like to express my sincere thanks to all the participants and speakers for having accepted our invitation, and more particularly to the ifc representatives, mr. xavier reille and mr. oscar madedu, and their team here for their valuable contribution to preparing this meeting. i would also like to give special thanks to his excellency ambassador takuji hanatani and through him the japanese government, which has made a vital contribution to developing credit information - sharing infrastructure in morocco. the relevance of this meeting lies in the sharing of experiences between the participating experts. the seminar panels, scheduled throughout the day, will set the stage for fruitful discussions between : central banks which are well advanced in terms of operating credit registries or which are starting to set them up, on the one hand ; and those which are preparing to meet the new challenges such registries impose in terms of micro and macro - prudential supervision and monetary policy, on the other hand. ladies and gentlemen, the significant importance of “ credit reporting ” is widely recognized today, particularly in assessing borrowers ’ credit risk, reducing loan defaults and expanding access to bank financing. experience has shown that countries with credit bureaus have been able to address the problem of “ asymmetric information ” and substantially improve the quality of credit institutions ’ portfolio. however, the recent crisis has highlighted the limited knowledge of counterparties ’ real health and revealed the pressing need for more granular, interconnected and flexible statistics. for central banks and supervisors, this need is creating a new paradigm for monitoring and evaluating financial stability, based on an integrated infrastructure of credit information sharing. this infrastructure