masaaki shirakawa : wishing the best for the bundesbank ’ s new move in tokyo remarks by mr masaaki shirakawa, governor of the bank of japan, at the reception to commemorate 25 years of the deutsche bundesbank in tokyo, tokyo, 6 september 2012. * * * good evening ladies and gentlemen. it is a great honor to be invited to this reception celebrating the 25th anniversary of the deutsche bundesbank in tokyo and the opening of its new and enlarged office. i would like to extend my sincere congratulations to dr. andreas dombret and dr. joachim nagel, the executive board members of the bundesbank, dr. karlheinz bischofberger, the head of the financial stability department, mr. klaus merk, the representative of the new tokyo office, and other staff members of the bundesbank. now please allow me to extend a few words of congratulations. relationship between germany and japan last year coincided with the 150th anniversary celebrating the signing of a treaty of amity and commerce between germany and japan. a variety of events were held in many places in both countries. in march 2011, i was given the opportunity to speak at goethe university frankfurt. 1 the commonly held image of germany and japan is that both countries are seen as nations with advanced manufacturing technologies and highly diligent populations. according to the global public opinion poll of 2011 conducted by the bbc world service, germany was seen as having the most positive influence. this year, japan is top of this category with germany as the runner - up. the reason for the positive perception of the two nations was their contribution to the global economy and to industry. the history of modernization in japan shows that the country learned a lot from germany when establishing the social infrastructure necessary for its economic development in the nineteenth century. there are a number of stories related to the germany - japan relationship that every japanese citizen knows. for example, in the early nineteenth century during the edo period, at the time of japan ’ s self - imposed isolationist policy, a german medical doctor, philipp franz von siebold, opened a school called narutaki - juku near dejima in nagasaki, for japanese people to learn western medicine. large parts of modern japanese law, including the civil code, are based on german law. and, as a central banker, i must of course remind you of the great contribution made by germany to banknotes in japan. today, japan possesses the

amando m tetangco, jr : improving lives through better access to credit speech by mr amando m tetangco, jr, governor of the central bank of the philippines ( bangko sentral ng pilipinas ), at the launching of e - rediscounting in mindanao, davao city, 20 july 2007. * * * maayong udto sa inyong tanan! honrable members of the monetary board ; fellow bankers ; business leaders of mindanao as represented by the chamber of commerce and industry, the small and medium enterprise development council and micro - finance council ; special guests ; government officials who are here today, mayor lobrigat ; my colleagues at the bangko sentral ng pilipinas ; friends ; ladies and gentlemen – i am very pleased to lead the launching here today of the bsp ’ s electronic or e - rediscounting system. only a few weeks ago at the mindanao peace and security summit in cagayan de oro city the president identified two key priority programs for mindanao, which is particularly relevant to our program today. the first priority is to increase the funding for key government economic programs in mindanao. the second is to strengthen the institutions of government to promote economic prosperity in the region. given this, the launching of the bangko sentral ’ s e - rediscounting system here in mindanao is indeed very timely and appropriate. with this electronic loan refinancing facility, we expand and facilitate access to credit of countryside areas in mindanao where there are micro, small and medium enterprises, as well as exporters. this should stimulate economic activities in the local communities here. so far, the seven - month track record of our e - rediscounting system has been positive. since its initial launching in manila in december, the number of participating banks in our erediscounting system has increased from 88 to 129 while the total loans processed and released during this period has reached an unprecedented level of over p14 billion. the importance that the monetary board attaches to this initiative is clearly demonstrated by the presence of our monetary board members in this launching today and let me acknowledge them : first, mbm vicente valdepenas, jr., mbm raul boncan, mbm juanita amatong, mbm alfredo antonio, and earlier today mbm nelly favis - villafuerte was also here. the bsp top management is here with us as well today