system stability required improving all business processes within the institution, both the ones related directly to the legal duties of the bank and those related to supporting aspects. during 2013, human and financial resources of the bank of albania focused on the qualitative development and improvement of these processes and their approximation with european practices. i would like to present them in brief. 4. other activities of the bank of albania the bank of albania has started a project to review the collection and processing of statistics according to eurostat requirements, and has completed the technological infrastructure to automate and process reporting. this process is in a testing phase and is expected to be functional within this year. the bank of albania has continued cooperation with the world bank to improve the reserve portfolio management system. drawing on the experience of other countries for the administration of the crisis in the euro area, the respective regulation was revised to establish buffering and monitoring mechanisms against the materialisation of investment risks. the regulatory framework for the issue and control of banknotes and coins was amended, setting the standards for banknotes fit for circulation, and strengthening the monitoring of their protection against counterfeiting. in 2013, the laboratory for analysing banknotes suspected as counterfeit was made functional. its instruments employ state - ofthe - art technology, hence fulfilling one of albania ’ s obligations arising from the saa. bis central bankers ’ speeches during 2013, we continued our work to approximate the regulatory framework and working practices with eu directives and ecb standards, in the framework of the european integration process. the last annual report of the european commission confirms the progress made by the bank of albania with regard to achieving european standards in all the fields of its activity. it also commends the contribution of the bank of albania to maintaining the country ’ s macroeconomic stability. last, but not least, i would like to underline the approach of the bank of albania to the public. in our medium - term strategy, we have, among others, set forth two important factors that help achieve our main objective : public education, with the bank of albania assuming the role of the financial educator, and enhancing the confidence in our institution. in the framework of financial education, after introducing financial education as an elective subject in the high school curricula, this year we targeted the elementary education, with a new teaching set for both pupils and teachers. we have also consolidated our position as a scientific research centre. every year, the bank of albania brings together economists and academics

ardian fullani : bilateral opportunities between albania and china speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the meeting with the banking sector, introducing the bilateral swap agreement on national currency exchange between the bank of albania and the people ’ s bank of china, tirana, 2 april 2014. * * * dear bank executives and representatives, dear guests, i would like to welcome you to this round table between the bank of albania and the banking system in albania. today ’ s discussion will focus on the bilateral agreement signed by the bank of albania and the people ’ s bank of china ( pboc ), and the opportunities the agreement offers. on 12 september 2013, in yerevan, armenia, with the governor of the people ’ s bank of china, mr. zhou xiaochuan, we signed a swap agreement on the bilateral national currency exchange between the republic of albania and the people ’ s republic of china. for the bank of albania, this important financial instrument will have a positive impact on widening and deepening of trade exchanges between the two countries. most importantly, this agreement will have a positive impact on another aspect : expansion and deepening of the financial market in albania. the economy, its agents, including financial institutions, are provided with an additional opportunity to contribute together to the quick recovery of economic activity, lending more to the economy, and the country ’ s financial soundness. the agreement is reached in the light of the considerably increasing share of the people ’ s republic of china in both the global economy and international financial system. the financial cooperation between the two central banks reconfirms the excellent relations between the two institutions, which culminated with the landmark visit of pboc ’ s governor zhou xiaochuan to the bank of albania in 2011. this cooperation materialises the increasing share of trade exchanges between albania and china. moreover, it precedes the potential increase in financial and capital transactions between the two countries. despite quantitative differences between the economy of albania and the economy of china, we expect the trade exchanges with china to increase in the period ahead. potentially, financial ties will also be strengthened. china is albania ’ s third trading partner, by origin of imports ( behind italy and greece ), and is an important station of our exports. in the last year, 5 % of albanian exports targeted the chinese market and 6. 7 % of our imports originated from china. strong trade relations provide the foundations for strong financial relations. history has proven that trade