priority and expectations. at the initial stage of development, as is the case now for the asian bond market, government policies and efforts will be important to spearhead the process of growth and development. but once the momentum takes off, market mechanism should take over to ensure that the pace and focus of development are consistent with market expectations. and, at this level, the role of policy should be to support and facilitate market development by streamlining rules and regulations, by facilitating cross - border trade and investment flows, and by providing the necessary financial infrastructure. this approach will help ensure that the region ’ s financial environment remains conducive to private sector activities and participation. let me take the opportunity here to stress that, at this juncture of financial markets development in asia, i think that support from the authorities is still important and remains a crucial factor. but in order to leverage the impact of government ’ s support and involvement to the fullest, it is important for the authorities to be clear and firm on their commitments to develop the markets. government involvement should also be focused and concentrate on issues that cannot be tackled by private market participants. importantly, the authorities should engage the private sector early into the process of market development so that the direction of policy and development is aligned with needs of the private sector. most of the issues that i have raised today are not new, but they are the important ones. again, i will not be surprised if many of you are also having the same thoughts. such convergence of ideas will be good in helping to advance our interest and work on regional financial cooperation. i am confident that we can move forward more rapidly in the direction that will be most beneficial to our economies, while sharing a common vision of greater prosperity and economic well - being for our region. thank you for your attention. 3 / 3

t t mboweni : making johannesburg a world - class african city address by mr t t mboweni, governor of the south african reserve bank, at the country club johannesburg breakfast meeting, johannesburg, 8 june 2007. * * * honoured guests ladies and gentlemen 1. introduction thank you for the invitation to address one of your series of breakfast meetings, coming as it does only a couple of weeks after the last of a number of memorable and spectacular events marking the centenary celebrations of the country club johannesburg. being only 20 years younger than the city of johannesburg, the country club johannesburg is indeed an inseparable part of the heritage and history of this magnificent city. 2. history of the city it appears that there is no consensus among the historians about who gave this city the name johannesburg. there is no dispute, however, that it was named after a man called johann. johann was a common dutch name and remains so to this day. i would not be surprised if it is the most common name in the south african reserve bank at the moment. i guess that there could be many johanns who can lay claim to having given the name. apparently johannesburg was proclaimed in a hurry as gold prospectors had begun flooding the place. in fact ten years had passed before anyone sought to enquire about the origin of the name. many versions have been recorded by historians, including one claiming that the original name was johannesburg, which was reportedly changed to johannesburg as it was difficult to pronounce. the history of johannesburg is very fascinating indeed. just over 100 years ago, what is today the economic and financial centre of south africa was an endless untouched savannah. this changed very fast when gold was discovered. this history is littered with many pioneers who suspected that there was gold in the area. after all gold had been found a few hundred kilometres to the east in barberton. some prospectors spent years buying up land, digging, trying to find the yellow ore, but nothing substantial was found. george harrison has to his credit the discovery of gold on the farm langlaagte in 1886. this marked the beginning of johannesburg, which was declared a city in 1928. gold diggers and fortune hunters arrived in droves and soon a tent town sprung up, later to become the city that is now south africa ’ s main commercial hub. gold was the catalyst which brought johannesburg into being and the city ’ s identity continues to be closely linked with the yellow ore. the mine dumps that surround the city