ready to act as a mediator to voice the concerns to the appropriate international channels. as a result, where possible, banks in thailand are now pursuing a coordinated effort for a better implementation of basel ii. such effort can be as close as forming an alliance to pool the necessary data for model development, or as loose as sharing the costs of training and seminar similar to the one we are having here today. i should now end my talk. it has been a pleasure to share with you a regulator ’ s perspective on the implementation of basel ii and ifrs. i hope my remarks and observations have been useful. we are traveling on an important and challenging path towards achieving a robust and resilient financial system, and steady progress is being made. you, as a key stakeholder, are also an important part of this journey. i wish the rest of the seminar great success and accomplish its objective, and be interesting and educating to all. thank you very much.

amando m tetangco, jr : strengthening the foundation for effective governance speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the induction of officers and annual general membership meeting of the bankers institute of the philippines ( baiphil ), makati city, 24 july 2007. * * * the newly elected officers and directors of baiphil led by its president and bsp assistant governor ms. ma. dolores b. yuvienco, my colleagues at the mb ( mbm valdepenas, boncan, villafuerte, antonio ) prime minister virata, gov. laya, gov. cuisia, sec chairman barin, members of the institute, bank chairman, vice - chairman, presidents, other distinguished guests, fellow bspers, ladies and gentlemen. first of all, let me thank you for inviting me to be your inducting officer and guest speaker in this year ’ s general membership meeting. it is an honor to be here. i am very pleased to be here today for your annual general membership meeting for several reasons. first, we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas look at the bankers institute of the philippines more popularly known as baiphil s our partner in strengthening our banking system through research, information exchange and education. in fact, baiphil is one of only seven institutions accredited by the bangko sentral to conduct mandatory corporate governance seminars for bank directors. second, the theme chosen by baiphil ’ s new set of officers and directors for the fiscal year 2007 to 2008 echoes our own focus at the bangko sentral, which is : “ enhancing internal governance a continuing journey. ” indeed, good corporate governance is a must for banking institutions, whether they are private or government. you can say that we at the bangko sentral walk the governance talk. while i will be the first to say that we are not perfect, it is not for lack of trying. in fact, it is a continuing topic in our planning sessions. like baiphil, we at the bangko sentral believe that for as long as the environment where we operate remains dynamic, there will always be room to enhance governance ; it is a continuing journey with no finish line. we at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas are also pleased that assistant governor dolly yuvienco has been elected president of baiphi