I am very pleased to address the 13th international conference hosted by the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies. On behalf of my colleagues at the Bank of Japan, I welcome all the participants from all over the world. 2.
Theme of this year's conference  The theme of this year's conference is "Financial Markets and the Real Economy in a Low Interest Rate Environment." I am sure that this theme is timely for all of us, considering the financial and real economic conditions we have faced since the 1990s. Let me elaborate on this point, focusing on Japan's experience with quantitative easing. 3.