durmus yilmaz : enhancing “ shamgen ” banking – turkey, syria, lebanon, jordan speech by mr durmus yilmaz, governor of the central bank of the republic of turkey, at the conference on enhancing “ shamgen ” banking – turkey, syria, lebanon, jordan, hosted by the central bank of turkey and co - organized by the al bank wal mustathmer group, istanbul, 28 march 2011. * * * distinguished guests, welcome to the international “ enhancing “ shamgen ” banking : turkey, syria, lebanon, jordan ” conference hosted by the central bank of turkey and co - organized by the al bank wal mustathmer group. we are delighted to host governors and deputy governors of central banks, chairmen of banks associations, ceos of banks from syria, lebanon and jordan as well as international economists and finance specialists. during the two - day conference, issues towards improving banking and financial cooperation among syria, lebanon, jordan and turkey will be discussed in the context of turkey ’ s recently developing relations with her neighbors and other countries in the region. the conference will address issues such as enhancing banking cooperation between these countries, banks associations ’ possible contributions to the process, payment systems, islamic banking implementations and prospective cooperation fields, funding of small and medium - scale enterprises in the region and the future political and economic outlook of shamgen countries. as we all know, the share of developing countries in the global economy has been growing and, in line with the increased importance of these economies, we witness significant changes in decision - making mechanisms worldwide. the fact that a wide range of important decisions on issues ranging from food and energy safety to repair and reconstruction of the financial system are made at the g - 20, of which turkey is an active member, clearly suggests that the global economy ’ s center of gravity is shifting. corresponding to the ever - increasing importance of the g - 20, the weight of turkey and her peer developing countries in international institutions, such as the imf, is increasing as well. in his statement in the late 2010, imf managing director dominique strauss kahn described the changes in the fund ’ s quotas and governance “ the most fundamental governance overhaul in the fund ’ s 65 - year history, and the biggest ever shift of influence in favor of emerging markets and developing countries ”. once the imf ’ s 14th general review of quotas is completed, turkey ’ s share in the imf ’ s total quota will be more than doubled

to the increase in the volume of intra - emerging markets trade. although tradable products can be transported to markets of any distance owing to advancements in transportation infrastructure and technology worldwide, distance is no less important than it was previously. due to increased competition among countries, factors such as distance and transportation costs continued to be among the leading determinants of competitiveness. various academic studies also confirm that the distance elasticity of trade is on the rise. as it is known, complementary value added chains have been formed particularly among asian countries, and having benefited from the proximity of neighbor countries and their individual advantages in different fields, these countries have experienced a high - speed development process through regional cooperation, where low - costs - for - all have boosted the competitiveness of all economies in the region. the “ zero - problem ” policy turkey has been trying to formulate in recent years with neighbor countries, the steps taken to lift visa requirements, and above all, the active part turkey played in improving relations among the countries of the region, all pave the way for regional collaborations that are likely to generate favorable economic outcomes in future for all countries of the geographical area we live in. this conference that the central bank of turkey hosts today is a step toward improving relations among the banking sectors of turkey, syria, lebanon and jordan in the short - term. nevertheless, in the long - run, it is expected to contribute to efforts towards a common market surrounded by the persian gulf, the red sea and the mediterranean with the participation of the region countries. the banks association of turkey, central bank of syria, the banks association of lebanon and the banks association of jordan will be signing a regional cooperation agreement in the field of banking shortly. this agreement aims to enhance cooperation among the banking systems of these four countries and to improve communication channels between them. thanks to this agreement, cross - border trade and investments among these countries will be supported and facilitated by this cooperation between our banks. turkey signed free trade agreements with syria, jordan and lebanon in 2007, 2009 and 2010, respectively. moreover, visa - exemption agreements were made between turkey, syria and jordan in 2009 and between turkey and lebanon in 2010. besides, these four countries established a high - level strategic cooperation council in 2010. the regional cooperation agreement to be bis central bankers ’ speeches signed at the shamgen banking conference will complement these agreements and enhance their effectiveness. the turkish banking sector, which was restructured following the 2001 economic crisis, managed to overcome the global