close to 2. 3 % ; basically fulfilled the target of maintaining growth and its intrinsic value. the year saw the expiry of the issuing right of pataca notes of the two notes issuing banks. after negotiation, a new 10 year notes issuing agreement was signed with the two banks, which would ensure issuance and supply of pataca notes. in addition, in the realm of enhancement of financial infrastructure facilities, the seriously mooted pataca real time gross settlement ( rtgs ) finalized its initial open tender process in the year and will enter into system development phase. once implemented, the rtgs will enhance the efficiency of pataca fund availability and settlement. on the financial research and statistics front, we actively participated in the cooperation with international organizations in items relating to money, finance, economics and statistics. as a result, data information was published in a timely manner, which enabled the quality of our financial statistics dissemination to be aligned with international standards. through cooperation and communication with counterparts, we perfected financial data dissemination bis central bankers ’ speeches mechanism and formed a systematic financial information dissemination platform. at the same time, we embarked on studies on special topics conducive to the practical situation of macao and published the results, which would provide valuable reference to the msar government, financial sector, academia and the general public. in our communication and cooperation with entities abroad, amcm, as usual, continued to deepen liaison with financial regulatory authorities of the mainland of china and lusophone countries. we established communication mechanism via conclusion of memorandum of understanding. on the back of the established regional cooperation agreement framework, we enhanced cooperation with the mainland, particularly the pearl river delta. on the other hand, amcm made use of the opportunity of the “ 3rd ministerial conference of the forum for economic and trade cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries ” held in macao to organize jointly with the development bank of china and solely two seminars entitled “ conference of financiers and entrepreneurs of china and portuguese speaking countries ” and “ financial theme seminar for chinese and portuguese financiers ” respectively. the move further elevated the function of macao as trade and economic cooperation platform between china and portuguese speaking countries. simultaneously, it created venue for communication and partnership for local financial institutions and their counterparts in portuguese speaking countries, which would enable the gradual exploitation of new business opportunity for chinese and portuguese financiers. also, amcm established a regular work liaison mechanism with china unionpay and arrived at consensus

on cooperation to reinforce management of authorized accounts and risk prevention. looking forward to 2011, we can expect global economic recovery to continue its cheerful pace. however, there are a number of uncertain factors in the process. the sovereign debt crisis of eurozone may linger, which may lead to the necessary tight fiscal policy adopted by some european countries and adverse effect arising from debt burden. coupled with the fact that protectionism may rear its ugly head, and the daunting effect of geopolitical risks of middle east and north africa, negative impacts will be inflicted on world economic recovery. as the underlying economic recovery appears moribund, it is the main stream view that global interest rates will stay at a lower lever. however, it appears that inflation expectation is gathering stream. the authorities concerned therefore have to make necessary preparation, as the prevailing loose monetary policy may come to an end. this year marks the inauguration of the “ 12th five year plan ” of our motherland, which will lay the foundation of stepping stone for a new phase of development. following the gradual realization of the “ outline of the plan for the reform and development of the pearl river delta region ”, “ hengqin island overall development plan ” and the “ guangdong - macao cooperation framework agreement ”, the improvement and enhancement of the cepa, coupled with the strengthening of our role as the service platform for economic and trade cooperation between china and portuguese speaking countries, the implementation of all these will bring more business opportunity and room for development to the macao financial sector. certainly, our market practitioners are bracing for a bright new business world ahead. last but not the least, i would like to propose a toast to the continued prosperity, security, strength and harmony of our motherland and compatriots ; to the sustainable development and prosperity of the msar ; to the steady growth and helpfulness of our financial sector ; to the health and success of our guests and friends. cheers! bis central bankers ’ speeches