said this, i would like to focus on the potential competition between currencies. the position as a key currency is not easily threatened. inertia here plays a large role. in such a situation, the economy of the key currency is easily tempted to focus its economic policy on domestic considerations. in today ’ s globalized economy, this could lead to undesirable ripple effects on the rest of the world, through the fluctuations of the external value of the key currency. if we have two competing currencies, and the role of the key currency is contestable, competition between them could lead to more attention to the external value of key currencies. this should have a positive effect on the stability of the global financial system. 2. the role of the yen and its challenges in this context, what kind of role can or should the yen perform? i am a firm believer in the potential of the japanese economy. therefore, i believe that the yen can and should play a larger role in the global market. looking back, japanese prices have been stable for a long time. in addition, i can count a few more strengths : one of the largest pool of savings in the world ; strategic location in asia - the center of global growth ; and state - of - the - art it technology. these strengths must be funneled into the strengthening of the whole japanese economy through appropriate economic policies. this, in turn, would assure the place of the yen in the global economy. what are such policies? the answer boils down to two factors : one is to support the private sector to realize a vibrant economy and the other is to build efficient and liquid financial markets. in other words, policies must support structural reforms. reforms not only in the private sector but also in the public sector are important. from the central bank ’ s point of view, it is our responsibility to contribute to the sustainable growth of the economy through the maintenance of price stability. we must also enhance credibility through transparent formulation of policies. the central bank also has a role to play in invigorating financial markets. we are redoubling our efforts as a key player in the market and as a provider of market infrastructure. considering the deepening economic relations between japan and the rest of asia, asia should benefit if the use of the yen could be facilitated. the yen could become a viable alternative in both fund management and fund raising. asia ’ s strong demand for capital and japan ’ s vast pool of

often the case that the shortage of relevant human resources has constrained the expansion of businesses. with the ongoing efforts toward digitalization, the shortage of human resources for information technology is a pressing issue. in order to respond boldly to the major changes, firms have made efforts not only to improve workers'skills through in - house training but also to acquire new skills through the exchange of human resources with other industries. it is important for firms to further step up efforts that they already have made to improve their workers'skills in order to adapt to structural changes. capital input : capital stock accumulation through business fixed investment the next issue is capital input. one of the reasons for prolonged low growth after a major crisis is that the accumulation of the necessary capital stock is hampered. that is, in the aftermath of a crisis in which corporate profits deteriorate, economic uncertainties increase, and the funding environment worsens, business fixed investment will be constrained excessively, and firms'continuing cautious stance will lead to prolonged stagnation in capital accumulation. let us look at the past business fixed investment stance of firms in japan ( chart 11 ). following the bursting of the bubble economy, they remained reluctant to make fixed investment for a long period under prolonged deflation. however, as i mentioned at this meeting last year, firms surely had become more active with their fixed investment in recent years, mainly on the back of high levels of profits. during this situation, early this year, we were hit by the shock of covid - 19. it is true that the high levels of savings that remained on hand even after making active investment have mitigated the impact of the shock. however, the important thing is that being excessively cautious with investment based on this experience will negatively affect future competitiveness. i think that firms are well aware of this point. many are saying that, despite the shock, they will continue to make necessary investment, given that they significantly constrained fixed investment after the gfc and subsequently lost their competitiveness. when looking ahead to the post - covid - 19 era as well, i think it is important not to interrupt the positive trend seen before the outbreak, which was to invest aggressively for the future. technological progress : continued investment for growth technological progress is also important ( chart 12 ). there are many examples like the gfc where, in the aftermath of a crisis, technological progress stagnated and productivity growth in the economy as a whole remained weak accordingly. one of the reasons is the