schedule. the late tun ismail ali's legacy ladies and gentlemen, as we gather here today, let us reflect on the legacy of the late tun ismail ali, and his significant contributions to malaysia's financial and economic landscape. he was a pioneer in the field of central banking in malaysia, and his visionary leadership laid the 1 / 6 bis - central bankers'speeches groundwork for many of the institutions that we have today. tun was known to be a man of principles – in particular, trustworthiness and integrity. his relentless pursuit of excellence and formidable intellect were matched by a deep sense of purpose to serve the country. among his lasting imprint as the first malaysian governor of bank negara malaysia was the introduction of the malaysian ringgit in 1967 to replace the malayan dollar, which was a defining move that led to the establishment of the monetary policy framework. under his leadership, he forged the path to a thriving financial system, overseeing the growth of domestic banks as champions for the underserved segment. to quote his own words, " the role of bank negara is to ensure that the less privileged, the farmers, the small traders, small enterprises, small businesses and individuals, have ready access to bank credit on reasonable terms " 1. this quote exemplifies his unwavering dedication to serve the nation by establishing policies that benefit the whole society. this, along with the establishment of the malaysian stock exchange market paved the way to malaysia's financial market resilience. today, we mark the beginning of a new chapter with the establishment of this centre of excellence together with the asb. the centre extends the legacy of tun ismail ali. while the mission to advance expertise in the field of monetary and financial economics remains intact as it was first established two decades ago, the centre will broaden its scope to address today's challenges. this includes widening its outreach through engagements with local institutions, students, and the public which would elevate the capacity of our education institutions. it will also function as a research hub on central banking matters, with a deep focus on emerging markets. moving forward, the organisation of conferences, seminars, workshops and public lectures would allow the centre to further facilitate the knowledge creation and exchange between academicians and institutions. the challenges of monetary policy at present and in the future ladies and gentlemen, as we gather here today, let us reflect on the legacy of the late tun ismail ali, and his significant contributions to malaysia's financial and economic landscape.

way ahead so where do we go from here? in a revision phase to follow, the governing council of the ecb will invite one or more prizewinners to review their design proposals. a final design will be agreed in cooperation with the city of frankfurt. after this revision phase, the governing council of the ecb will award the contract for planning its new premises to one of the three prizewinning architects. once this decision has been made, the ecb will take the next steps, again in cooperation with the city of frankfurt. this will involve developing an urban development plan to allow for the implementation of the design concept. in parallel, the detailed planning of the project will get under way. i am sure you will appreciate that it is very difficult, at this early stage, to predict the exact timing of the next steps. the current users of the großmarkthalle site - the wholesalers - are scheduled to move to a new location in kalbach this summer. thereafter, the city of frankfurt will “ clean up ” the site, which means, for instance, demolishing adjacent technical structures that do not form part of the historic großmarkthalle building. we expect that the city will be able to hand over the site to the ecb, as agreed, in january 2005. after completing the planning phase and obtaining the relevant permits from the authorities, we hope to start construction during 2006 and look forward to moving into our new home around 2008 / 2009. ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by emphasising that the governing council of the ecb is very satisfied that the results of the international architectural competition have fulfilled its expectations. our new home will be functional, aesthetically appealing and, at the same time, reflect the core values of our institution. i am confident that the new ecb premises will give us all - the ecb, the city of frankfurt, and the architectural profession - a reason to be proud. thank you for your attention. it now gives me great pleasure to hand over the prizes to the three prizewinners : • 1st prize : coop himmelb ( l ) au, represented by prof. wolf prix. • 2nd prize : asp schweger assoziierte, represented by prof. peter schweger. • 3rd prize : 54f architekten in association with t. r. hamzah & yeang, represented by prof. johann eisele. i am now