Let me start by greeting everyone a pleasant good morning.
It is my privilege to welcome you all to the Philippines and to the 2nd ASEAN Fixed Income Summit which is hosted by the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation.
The theme of this Summit -- “ASEAN, ONE MARKET” -- highlights the importance of the vision that the region has in working towards the full integration of the ASEAN economies. The ASEAN region is clearly one of the most prominent economic growth regions in Asia where trade is expected to rise significantly and where investments are expected to grow fast in support of the dynamic growth of the regional economy. The year 2015 is a milestone year for the ASEAN Economic Community as we finalize the creation of an integrated trade community.
It is in this regard that ASEAN financial integration remains a key component of ASEAN economic integration given the need to promote interlinked capital markets that will facilitate greater trade and investment flows.
As the region progresses on its work towards financial integration, the ASEAN Fixed Income Summit provides a platform for discussing ways to address cross-border issues and challenges in promoting liquidity and market transparency in the ASEAN fixed income market. It is important to have a deeper understanding on how we can best build the infrastructure for the development of capital markets that will channel funds to where it is needed, expand savings options, increase fund raising alternatives for enterprises and strengthen the capacity of ASEAN economies to withstand shocks to stability.
It is clear that ASEAN will become a significant player in the fixed income market given ASEAN’s economic position in the global market. With such an emerging role in this global market, we should look closely at how we can better prepare ASEAN in terms of regulations and infrastructure so we can take hold of this opportunity. It is for this reason that we see the importance of today’s Summit as a venue for discussing these challenges.
With the theme “ASEAN, One Market”, we hope that participants of this Summit will gain insights with respect to developments in ASEAN Financial Integration towards 2020 and promote ASEAN as a significant fixed income investment destination.
I am confident that today’s Summit will lead to exciting exchanges as well as significant results given that we have with us distinguished speakers from Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and the Philippines who have come together to share their ideas and provide updates as well as recommendations on the future of fixed income here in ASEAN. The discussion will be comprehensive as topics for discussion will range from regional market outlook, progress updates on ASEAN bond market initiatives, best practices in promoting cross-border issuance of ASEAN bonds, regulators’ perspective on capital control measures in ASEAN countries, and challenges and opportunities in ASEAN fixed income market.
We hope that our participants and delegates will have a fruitful discussion with the experts and each other as well as succeed in bringing home new learnings.
I would like to thank all of you for travelling to the Philippines to attend this Summit. Special thanks also go to our sponsors and media partners for their genuine support in making AFIS successful.
We would like to express our deepest gratitude and congratulations to Dr. Felixberto U. Bustos, Jr., and the rest of the NHMFC community for their hard work in organizing and hosting this summit here in the Philippines. By hosting the 2nd ASEAN Fixed Income Summit in the Philippines, you have shown our commitment to making the ASEAN Economic Community and specifically ASEAN financial integration a reality.
Thank you.
At this point allow me to lead you to the formal opening of the 2nd ASEAN Fixed Income Summit.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my great honor to introduce to you the Vice President of the Republic of the Philippines, Jejomar C. Binay, for his keynote address.