##cite the imagination of their people. they must offer hope and programmes to rally the people to sacrifice, struggle and work together to achieve a better future. second, by sense of reality, i mean leaders must have their feet firmly planted on the ground even as their imagination of growth and prosperity soars. in pursuing growth, sound basic economic principles such as prudent fiscal policies, monetary discipline, and high savings must be practised. many countries'experiences have reinforced the importance of a stable macroeconomic environment and the benefits of a market - based system. policies on growth must be applied to local contexts in a practical way, taking into account an economy's resources and constraints. in addition, countries must be open to new ideas and be prepared to change. they must not be trapped in old paradigms but must constantly adapt to the everchanging world. let me illustrate this with singapore's example. after independence, we implemented policies that promoted macroeconomic stability. we adopted prudent fiscal policies, and directed monetary policy to achieve medium - term price stability. our mnc - led growth strategy has worked well but others are pursuing the same strategy. so for the next phase of our development, we are also building a second platform based on entrepreneurship, innovation and knowledge. new areas of focus include research and development, biomedical sciences and the creative industry. as the competition intensifies, we break old moulds of thinking and reinvent the way we do things. for example, we overturned our longstanding policy of disallowing casinos in singapore. to remake singapore into a city with buzz, we are developing integrated resorts, with convention facilities, world - class entertainment and casinos. and crazy horse, the famed paris cabaret, is performing in strait - laced singapore. implementation is key the third critical aspect of growth is implementation. right policies are no guarantee of success, if the capacity to implement is missing. good implementation is founded on three key pillars : effective leadership, sound institutions and social cohesion. first, leaders are responsible for devising and implementing pro - growth policies. they must have the unifying vision to foster economic growth, the political will to overcome resistance and implement reforms, and the ability to mobilise people and engender social consensus. leaders must also have character, compassion, conviction, commitment and persuasive power. above all, they must enjoy the trust of the people. the second pillar of effective implementation is sound institutions. effective leadership must be supported

successful lion city bond issuances worth rmb10. 5 billion to - date, and we will look to promote greater bond issuance activity on a sustained basis. • second, enhance market infrastructure to facilitate growth of rmb activities. in response to market demand, mas has recently introduced rmb overnight liquidity bis central bankers ’ speeches facility to meet end - of - day rmb liquidity needs in the market. we will work with the industry to develop a rmb real time gross settlement ( rtgs ) system to raise the efficiency of rmb payment settlements in singapore. investment gains stable but profits higher due to translation effects 55 finally, i shall touch on mas ’ financial results. 56 mas recorded overall profit of s $ 15. 8 billion for fy2013 / 14. in fy2012 / 13, we recorded a loss of s $ 10. 6 billion. however, focusing on these numbers misses larger point about how mas ’ investments have performed. 57 as i had explained on previous occasions, mas ’ overall profit position is strongly influenced by currency translation effects – these are the effects of converting value of our reserves in foreign currency to singapore dollars ( sgd ). • a weaker sgd means a positive translation effect, i. e. investment gains on our foreign assets are amplified when reported in sgd. • conversely, a stronger sgd means a negative translation effect, i. e. investment gains are smaller or even negative when measured in sgd. but these translation effects have no bearing on the international purchasing power of mas ’ reserves. 58 therefore, it is important to look at the underlying investment gains holding the sgd exchange rate constant to strip out currency translation effects. when we do this, for fy2013 / 14, mas posted foreign investment gains of s $ 10. 6 billion, comparable to investment gains of s $ 9. 4 billion for fy 2012 / 13. 59 for this financial year, we recorded positive translation effects as sgd weakened against the usd, euro and gbp. in the last financial year, we had negative translation effects because the sgd appreciated against these three currencies as well as the jpy. 60 to help make sense of mas ’ underlying investment performance, we have provided a write - up on page 27 of annual report, showing the overall profit position, currency translation effects, and investment gains. 61 as shown in the chart on page 27, mas ’ investment gains have been relatively stable. this reflects