which made china a driving force of the asian economy. of course, during the history of asian growth over half a century, the road to success was not always smooth. many of you will recall the 1997 asian currency crisis, which followed a period of high growth in the mid - 1990s. despite the unprecedented impact of the crisis, the regional economy proved its strength and resilience, with its foundations firmly rooted in a strong manufacturing base, as many asian economies soon regained the prosperous exportled recovery trail. another more recent illustration of this resilience is the lehman shock and the subsequent global financial crisis. after the crisis, the asian economy continued to follow a relatively high growth path. bis central bankers ’ speeches the resilience and robustness of the asian economy and its markets was also evident in the aftermath of the so - called taper tantrum in may 2013. the stability of financial markets in emerging economies in general was eroded, but asian stock and foreign exchange markets remained relatively immune ( chart 2 ). returning to the share in global gdp, the asian economy today has recovered its share to over 30 percent, and is expected to continue contributing to the sustainable growth of the global economy. mechanism of economic growth in asia what then makes the asian economy so strong and resilient? to this end, i want to elaborate on two mechanisms or the dual engines which have driven the asian economy. the first mechanism is asia ’ s position as “ the factory of the world, ” a position achieved through continued expansion of exports driven by direct investment from abroad. global trade volumes increased dramatically with trade liberalization and direct investment growth. firms in advanced economies proactively engaged in strategic global allocation of production sites in order to ensure the most efficient means of production. in this way, these firms could not only cushion the effects of higher wages and saturated demand for goods in advanced economies, but also reap the benefits of growing demand in emerging economies. significant advances in information technologies and inventory management have also contributed to these movements. it is only natural that asia became identified as an attractive candidate in this process, given its abundant low - cost and highly - skilled labor force and large potential for future growth. global firms increasingly moved their production sites to asia, and traded components and finished goods with their home or third countries, thus making their supply chains more global. asia, as a hub of such trade networks, enjoyed employment opportunities created by the entry of foreign firms and exports increased significantly. at the same time,

regulatory circles talks about. however, even up to now, there is no clear consensus on what these policies mean, what are the instruments and how effective they are, and who should be given the powers to decide when and how to deploy such instruments. 3. i am very pleased that at today ’ s symposium we have managed to gather a very distinguished group of speakers and participants. i am sure there will be very interesting and fruitful exchange of views and ideas on the major financial stability issues, including those that i have mentioned earlier. once again, thank you all for being with us today. bis central bankers ’ speeches