amando m tetangco, jr : towards a shared vision for capital market reforms speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines, at the testimonial luncheon of the ab capital and investment corporation, makati city, 1 march 2006. * * * distinguished directors, officers and staff of the ab capital and investment corporation led by chairman and chief executive officer ramon r. del rosario, jr. ; president and chief operating officer francis m. varela ; former president filomeno g. francisco ; ladies and gentlemen : good afternoon! congratulations on your 25th year anniversary! it is indeed an honor for me to join all of you today as you celebrate this momentous occasion. for more than two decades, ab capital and investment corporation has positioned itself as a prominent player in the capital market industry. specifically, you have carved your place in corporate finance, fixed - income securities dealership, stock brokerage and fund management. you also hold a creditable track record in equity and debt securities underwriting, having acted as issue manager and / or lead underwriter for several of the country ’ s most prestigious and most successful debt and equity offerings. it ’ s no wonder you have earned various local and international distinctions for your financial savvy backed by a solid financial standing, as well as for your significant contributions to capital market development. i am positive that you owe much of this success to the competence and foresight of your leaders and the dedication and zeal of your workforce. in the pursuit of your institutional aspirations, you also have significantly contributed to our shared goal of promoting stability and efficiency in the philippine financial system for a sustainable economic growth. in return, let me take this opportunity to share with you our continuing reform initiatives which could be useful guideposts in fine - tuning your chosen path. the economy at a glance to put things in perspective, let me start with an overview of the economy. in 2005, the economy proved its resilience and fundamental strength, despite the prevailing difficult macroeconomic conditions. the country ’ s economic performance is benefiting directly from improving fiscal discipline and sound monetary policies. for 2006, we expect to keep the momentum going. we realize, of course, that sustaining economic growth over the long term would depend, to a large extent, on the resilience of the financial system which forms the backbone of the economy. thus, we are taking parallel actions on key fronts. the promotion of

agri value chain financing ( avcf ) pilot project aims to improve industry capacity and interest for this innovative financing approach to benefit not just smallholder farmers, but also agri - based msmes. we are also building a credit risk database ( crd ), which uses a variety of data to build statistical scoring models to sharpen credit assessment of banks and promote risk - based sme lending. the bsp continues to support the cooperative development authority ( cda ) in capacity development for credit surety fund cooperatives providing credit enhancement for bank loans of cooperatives and their member - msmes. 1 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches forthcoming initiatives include developing a standard loan application form ( slaf ) for small business loans to address sector preference for simplified and streamlined loan application requirements. we have an upcoming study to inform strategic interventions towards developing a supply chain finance ( scf ) market in the country. we are supporting an msme demand - side survey to better understand the sector ’ s needs and challenges. these initiatives, like the cma, are conducted in partnership with various stakeholders. the cma, our two - decade long partnership with citi foundation, and mcpi, fits well with the bsp ’ s advocacy to raise awareness on the opportunities and impact of microentrepreneurship on inclusive development. through cma 2020, we highlight the creativity and internal fortitude of our microentrepreneurs to serve as a great inspiration. congratulations to the covid - 19 category winners for demonstrating innovation and selflessness. we also extend our gratitude to our partners and the nsc in making cma 2020 possible. let us remain steadfast in collectively shaping a brighter, rosier future for our microentrepreneurs. thank you and good afternoon. 2 / 2 bis central bankers'speeches