; filled with stiffer competition between countries. delay will crush us in time. there ’ s only one way for us to resolve our problems. if you want to have a prosperous life, work hard! there ’ s no substitute for a hard work. hard work towards self - improvement is a sufficient condition on the road to better future. therefore, 2007 is the perfect time for us to work harder with better focus and greater commitment. it is now time to act because inaction can be fatal! in the midst of world war ii, under extreme pressure, sir winston churchill once said “ we shall prevail ”. this phrase is relevant to our condition at the moment. there will not be any chance of losing sight of the prize if we grab tightly with both hands our spirit, faith and hope. the crisis ten years ago may have almost severed most of our life lines, but it could not extinguish our hopes for the future of our nation. never have we surrendered to any predicament in the history of our nation. we have always risen from the depths to fight for our dignity and pride as a sovereign nation. from bank indonesia ’ s perspective, the macroeconomic condition in 2007 is expected to remain stable and will become the primary foundation to achieve higher growth, provided that micro risk factors and distortions in the real sector can be minimized and the investment climate improves significantly. economic growth in 2007 is projected to reach 6. 0 % ( within a range of 5. 7 % - 6. 3 % ), which surpasses economic growth in 2005 and 2006. in the first semester of 2007, the main thrust of economic growth will stem from consumption with some assistance from private investment. such a rise in consumption will be fostered by an upswing in public purchasing power as a result of the plan to raise the salary of civil servants and the regional minimum wage early in the first semester of 2007 and to maintain inflation at a low targeted rate. economic growth is projected to be even more robust in the second semester of 2007 along with significant improvements in private investment and greater government capital expenditure. the expected increase in private investment will be encouraged by greater confidence among economic agents regarding improved economic prospects, but also by the positive effects brought about by a slide in both the inflation and interest rates, on top of a stable exchange rate. externally, exports are projected to grow steadily but remain stunted due to global economic growth, which is not as buoyant as during 2006.

ardian fullani : regional cooperation in south east europe speech by mr ardian fullani, governor of the bank of albania, at the conference organised by the central bank of bosnia and herzegovina, sarajevo, 13 - 14 september 2007. * i. * * introduction it is a pleasure to be here today and engage in this discussion on strengthening regional cooperation. this meeting in bosnia builds upon other important activities in which we have come together to discuss similar issues. it is one thing to organize one activity where the governors of all central banks come together to share their views and agree upon importance of regional cooperation, but it is completely another thing to have them to bind themselves to continue the institutional dialogue. today, we present another proof of such commitment and show that regional cooperation in see is not a slogan but a real process with real results and products. ii. why cooperation? in general the nature and the character of any form of cooperation is shaped by the most important problems that central banks deal with. therefore the stage of economic development, and economic and social challenges faced by our economies are bound to play an important role in this cooperation. a. common challenges while the overall region seems to experience macroeconomic stability, issues that the central banks face today in their respective jurisdictions with their main partners bear striking resemblance. most importantly we share the same partners. we have all accepted the same challenges and set similar priorities which converge to the same objectives. dealing with a much faster globalization of financial sector than the rest of the economy, guarding macroeconomic and financial stability in face while this is happening, and the challenge of european integration define similar problems across the region. structural reforms i would consider as the main future challenge. building a stable financial system, enhancing financial infrastructure, improving financial markets, deepening and broadening through innovative initiatives provides fundamental ground for such cooperation. the memories of the latest episodes that have trembled financial markets in the western hemisphere, and the architecture of the financial system that is developing in our region ( meaning the same banks becoming major players in each country ) should make us aware of the potential risks. they indicate that each financial market remains highly exposed toward negative phenomenon that could develop in any of the region ’ s economies. b. common destination in this respect, i see enormous possibility for cooperation and policy coordination in the direction of information sharing, institution building, modification of the legal infrastructure and lobbying in european structures. facing these problems in group rather than separately will allow to benefit and embrace the positive effects of “ economies of