funds are increasing their allocation to asia, specifically in asian real estate. singapore can play an important role as a gateway for global investors to access asian opportunities via our capital markets. as a leading home for global fund managers, total assets under management in singapore exceed s $ 720 billion with over 50 % of these funds invested into asia pacific. the singapore exchange is an established listing venue for regional property companies based in singapore as well as foreign property developers. alongside singapore ’ s vibrant reit market, we offer a strong value proposition for real estate players to tap on singapore ’ s capital market to finance the rapid growth in the asian real estate sector. singapore ’ s real estate investment trust ( reit ) market singapore was the first country in asia to introduce a regulatory framework to facilitate the offering of real estate investment trusts ( reits ). this framework allows property companies to securitise their completed real estate assets in the capital markets, realise capital gains and re - invest into developing new properties. by offering investors direct exposure to assets with stable cash - flows, reits tap a new pool of investors who are seeking higher - yielding securities, including pension funds and insurance companies. since the first reit listing in 2002, the singapore reit market has become the largest reit market in asia outside of japan. currently, singapore has 16 listed reits, making up a total market capitalization of over s $ 26 billion. singapore reits offer investors access to a diversity of real estate assets including retail malls, office buildings, industrial properties and serviced apartments. in 2006, we also saw the first dedicated hotel reit as well as asia ’ s first healthcare reit. several key factors have contributed to the growth of the singapore reit market. our established and robust, yet pro - business regulatory framework and competitive tax regime have drawn the attention of global investors, attracting the securitization of not just domestic, but increasingly offshore assets. the number of cross - border reits listed on the singapore exchange has increased, further consolidating singapore ’ s status as a regional reits hub. these reits offer global investors exposure to properties throughout asia pacific via the singapore market, including properties in china, hong kong, australia, indonesia, vietnam, malaysia and japan. to sharpen singapore ’ s edge as an asian reits hub, it is crucial for us to maintain a conducive environment both for issuers and for investors. to this end, mas regularly reviews its regulatory regime to

the establishing of a cooperation with other european central banks. the implementation of these and similar projects by the ecb and the eu in recent years, unequivocally confirms their continued determination, commitment and dedication to assist the central banks of the western balkan countries on their way to joining the escb, and later the euro system. on the other hand, the realization of such projects enables strengthening of the cooperation between the central banks of the region and the central banks of the eu, which is inevitable in the process of integrating the entire region in the eu. let me finally thank the ecb and the eu for enabling the nbrm to participate in this project. i wish success for all the institutions involved in the project in anticipation of even greater cooperation and i thank our hosts for organizing this event. bis central bankers ’ speeches