in the correlation coefficients of all major asian economies, this 60th anniversary event implies that cemla began its activities in 1952, merely seven years after the end of world war ii. asia and the pacific ( hereafter, referred to simply as asia unless otherwise noted ) also has a long and very active history of regional financial cooperation. the central bank leaders of seven south east asian nations gathered in bangkok, thailand in 1966, and established the foundation of seacen, which plays an important role as a training and learning hub in the region. in 1982, the seacen center was established to provide the secretariat function in kuala lumpur, malaysia, and has since been hosting and co - hosting a number of valuable and timely seminars and conferences. seminars and conferences were co - hosted with cemla, and the bank of japan contributed to them as a speaker and lecturer. in 1991, the bank of japan invited asian counterparts to form emeap, consisting of eleven central banks and monetary authorities in the region. emeap has since then celebrated a number of concrete achievements in regional financial cooperation, including the establishment of the asian bond fund. bis central bankers ’ speeches following a gradual increase in china and japan a few years earlier. although geographical distance has not changed, our mutual dependency in trade has dramatically increased since the mid - 2000s, driven largely by china, and owing to significant improvements in transportation technology and a decline in various trade - related costs ( slide 2 ). the linkage of trade, and thus economic and financial activities, between latin america and asia is expected to be strengthened further in the future. trade volume is determined by the size of population and the degree of complementariness of goods and services, if transaction costs are sufficiently small. the combined populations of latin america and asia are forecast to remain at more than 60 percent of the global population. as income levels increase, the two regions combined are expected to become one of the largest consumer markets in the world ( slide 3 ). moreover, the two regions have a well - balanced supply - and - demand relationship, ranging from agricultural goods and raw materials to capital goods. this implies that future trade activity in a combined latin america and asia can be self - sustained without having to rely substantially on advanced countries. as mutual linkage of economy is enhanced through trade, eventually so is financial linkage between the two regions, including an increase in foreign exchange transactions for the purpose of real demand and hedging, as well as an increase in stock

financial institutions. i hope that the private sector's efforts on climate change will be further encouraged through the bank's new measure, which could be the world's first such attempt, in that it ensures flexibility while avoiding involvement in micro - level resource allocation as much as possible. conclusion lastly, i would like to talk about the economy of niigata prefecture. while the economy of niigata prefecture has remained in a severe situation due to the impact of covid - 19, it has been picking up. it is expected to continue recovering, but there is still a need to be aware of downside risks as the future course of covid - 19 remains uncertain. however, looking at the development trajectory of the economy, i believe that niigata prefecture is well equipped with the innovative capabilities to weather the uncertain post - pandemic era. for example, niigata's rice and sake, which are famous throughout japan, are not simply products of nature ; their production has grown into high value - added industries that were developed through research and development to make the most of the local climate and water quality. there are also many examples of technologies and know - how handed down in the region that have become the basis of world - renowned local industries, such as metal processing in the tsubame - sanjo area, which developed from the casting of japanese nails in the edo period, and hemp fabric in the uonuma region, which is famous for its " snow bleaching " during the agricultural off - season. speaking of the accumulation of experience and facilities, niigata, which has produced oil and natural gas from long ago, is also one of japan's leading energy prefectures, equipped with technology for resource development and recycling, and pipelines that connect to the tokyo metropolitan area. while the society as a whole is making efforts to address climate change, i hope that niigata will take advantage of its environment to boldly take on the challenge of entering new businesses and thereby lead the country in terms of making such efforts. next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the opening of the ohkouzu diversion channel on shinano river. japan's first weir equipped with modern technology has protected the echigo plain from devastating damage caused by the overflowing of shinano river and has supported the development of niigata. i would like to close my remarks by expressing my respect for the great innovations of our ancestors and my hope for the further