office activities, in the process of reserve management. no transaction can take place without the back office. it provides a vital service to the front office by ensuring that all funds flow in a timely and correct manner and all the necessary documentation is completed. inaccurate or untimely trade capture can have implications for the p & l and risk management process. if the central bank does not capture the correct transaction, then position and reported credit exposure might be incorrect. having in mind the importance of the back office service to the reserve management process, one of the goals of the workshop will be to provide best practices in the area of settlements, then different services provided by the bis central bankers ’ speeches custodians, and the importance of appropriate it tools to perform secured and efficient settlements. all the aspects cover over this week will enable to improve and make more efficient and controlled environment for the conduct of the reserve management transactions. in this regard, although back office activities should be separated from front and middle office activities, it does not mean that operations should be considered as separate from the business. on the contrary, the closer operations management is the pulse of the business, and the better communication channels between all the areas in reserve management function, the more responsive operations to changes in the business. ultimately, the overall reserve management process will be better controlled. to conclude, i wish all of you a fruitful and efficient participation in the workshop, with hopes that you will have incentive to take out the maximum from all the issues to be discussed with the distinguished lecturers from the world bank, as well as between each other during the exercises. have a nice week during this workshop, in skopje. thank you. bis central bankers ’ speeches

maja kadievska - vojnovik : macedonia ’ s central bank reserve management strategy opening remarks by ms maja kadievska - vojnovik, vice - governor of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, at the ramo – reserve management advisory programme, skopje, 7 september 2015. * * * ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the national bank of the republic of macedonia, it is my pleasure to welcome you all, colleagues from 21 different countries, at the beginning of the workshop on settlement and custodian relations, organized by the world bank as part of this year workshop agenda within the ramp. it is a great honor for the national bank of the republic of macedonia to host this workshop, as our institution joined the ramp " family " very recently, in second half of 2014. we, at the nbrm, see world bank reserves management advisory program as an unique opportunity to enhance investment management framework and operations on a sustainable basis. additionally, ramp facilitates sharing knowledge with other fellow participants in the program, either by meeting on workshops and other events, as well as in direct communication between each other. but, organizing workshops in different countries enables also, meeting different cultures and enriching our knowledge in different ways. in that respect, allow me to briefly introduce our country, macedonia. located in the center of the southern balkans, the history of macedonia tells how macedonians were distinct nation, ethnically, linguistically and culturally different from our neighbors. the name " macedonia " is the oldest existing name of a country on the european continent. macedonia had its glory days during the build - up of its ancient empire ending with the sudden death of the alexandar iii of macedonia ( also known as alexander the great ). afterwards, the romans established the province of macedonia, which in time of diocletian was divided between macedonia prima ( " first macedonia ", on the south ) and macedonia secunda ( " second macedonia " on the north ). most of the country's modern boundaries fell within the latter, with the city of stobi as its capital. we will have the opportunity to take a brief look on this period of the macedonian ancient history on wednesday afternoon, when we take you to visit stobi archeological site. the history of macedonia later on was influenced by other great empires in which the country was part of, creating a treasury - trove of byzantine, slav and turkish history, with a host of forgotten monasteries