other countries. this means that at least 80 % of the 80 % of non - euro area imports of the gcc countries are denominated in us dollars. on the other hand, if we look at uae imports'picture, the situation is more so not in favour of imports from the euro area, due to the fact that uae imports from the euro area went down from 24 % of all uae imports in 2001 to only 15. 28 % in 2005. interestingly the picture to the europeans is misleading if we look at it from absolute figures of imports. these have grown from us dollars 7. 21 billion in 2001 to us dollars 15. 12 billion in 2005, also the uae gives the euro area about us dollars 9 billion of trade surplus. the next point i want to tackle is the issue of flow of foreign investment funds into the euro area, also from a gcc countries'perspective. there are two questions here ; • can the euro area absorb large amounts of investment funds from the gcc countries in a short period of time? • can the euro area provide a competitive environment to attract investment funds from the gcc countries, to make it worthwhile to convert part of their oil revenue maintained in dollar at the moment? the answer to the first question is obviously, " no ", probably because euro area countries do not try to attract large foreign investments, in general, one reason maybe because they do not want to see a lot of liquidity go into their local markets and cause inflationary pressures and the other maybe they do not want to create increased demand for foreign labor force. however, there seems to be no uniform stand on this issue within the euro area countries. the answer to the second question is also " no ", but in this case may be due to the euro area have not yet harmonized its labor, tax and financial services laws, which also explain the no common stand regarding the issue of whether the euro area is really interested in attracting large investment funds. the euro area countries have choice at the moment in terms of interpretation of their dominant local laws, but once laws get harmonized or unified their choice will be reduced or eliminated all together, and the euro will witness an upward demand through foreign investment flows. the last point i will consider is tourism and the influence tourism has on demand for a certain currency. europe is, and has been the most popular tourist destination for people of the uae and other gcc countries. hundreds of thousands from gcc countries visit one

make it difficult for potential d - sibs to hold high - quality liquid debt instruments as “ pre - emptive ” liquidity buffers against early signs of stress. hence, there is a need to find an appropriate way to deal with this issue, until debt markets in the region witness significant improvements. to conclude, it should be stressed that strengthening the banking supervision exercise in our countries is key to tackling systemic risk in d - sibs and other financial institutions. excellencies ladies & gentlemen with this i come to the end of my speech, but before i close, i would like to thank the fsi of bis and the amf, for holding this important high level meeting here in abu dhabi, uae. i wish you all a successful meeting. thank you for your attention. bis central bankers ’ speeches