and even in terms of expanding our collateral framework which, from the outset, was already a very comprehensive collateral framework. it has been a big challenge. one of our challenges is that we had to take decisions very rapidly at the level of the governing council. and we again proved that, thanks to teleconferencing, in one hour and a half or two hours we could make a full judgment and take a decision. we had to test the capacity to have such teleconferences at very short notice, in order to be sure that we could confront any new situation. we had a large number of teleconferences with the governing council. you see there … [ points to telephones on table ] if the situation were to demand now that we had in one hour and a half a teleconference with the governing council, we will then indeed have a teleconference in one hour and a half. the full continent would be there. that ’ s very impressive, because this would mean all members of the governing council from ljubljana to helsinki and from lisbon to dublin. ft : and as you say, an exceptional crisis, a global crisis. how much worse would it have been without the euro? trichet : it is very difficult to reconstruct history with new assumptions. but my memory of what we experienced together in the old days is certainly that we would have had a situation which would have been very difficult, because on top of all of these global challenges that are without precedent, we would have had to cope with the intra - european tensions, the equivalent of the intra - erm 1 tensions, and that would have been demanding. there is no doubt from that standpoint that the enormous challenges we had at the level of the euro area as a whole were, very fortunately, not the result of intra - euro - area tensions, and that is something which is important. ft : and that would have put the single market at risk? trichet : and that would have put the single market at risk, sure. not only have the central banks had to cope with exceptional situations. governments were called upon to take action in various forms, and the fact that europe is a union of sovereign states means that a lot of decisions implying taxpayers ’ money or risks to taxpayers are taken at the level of governments and parliaments. hence there is a constant need to ensure that we maintain the single market and its level playing - field, and that we do not

##ance sector, the bank does not at all compromise its primary roles and responsibilities. all licensed financial institutions, including microbanks and licensed microfinancial institutions are expected to fully comply with the regulatory and prudential requirements of the bank. protection of public deposits and stability of the financial system are at the centre of the bank ’ s objectives. for these reasons, we continue to enforce good governance in both the board and management level, through the “ fit & proper ” tests for those involved. the bank will not go easy on licensed institutions that are found to be violating the provisions of the various acts that empower it or the prudential standards and directives of the bank. challenge : translating rhetoric into reality we can make speeches, write policies and attend conferences to address the needs of the informal and semi - formal sectors but if these are not translated into reality, those that are supposed to be helped will continue to remain in their backwardness. this is a challenge, not only for the government but, for all stakeholders to consider. the png - adb microfinance project is spear - heading the microfinance development in png. i welcome and encourage the pacific participants to interact with your png counterparts to learn and get as much information as possible from this conference to help you develop your microfinance sectors. acknowledgement i would like to acknowledge the contributions of our development partners through the project. one of the components of the project is the microfinance competence centre ( mcc ). i would like to thank the team members of mcc for organizing this conference and inviting participants from the pacific region to attend. closing in closing, i believe this conference opens up the way for all to share information and ideas to address the common problem of poverty alleviation and rural development through microfinance. in this respect, i wish you all success in your deliberations over the two ( 2 ) days of the conference. thank you very much.