Last month, AMRO presented its first set of Economic Review and Policy Dialogue reports at a meeting of ASEAN+3 Finance and Central Bank Deputies. AMRO’s ability to deliver such comprehensive reports within such a short time of becoming operational speaks well of the quality of its leadership and staff. 24. Singapore is very pleased to serve as the base for AMRO’s operations. We are fully committed to supporting AMRO – in matters both financial and administrative. As AMRO expands over the next few years and builds up its capabilities, we look forward to active engagement and collaboration. To be effective, AMRO must be independent and objective in its assessments, and candid about risks and vulnerabilities. I am happy to note that, in its surveillance reports, AMRO has sought to clearly identify policy risks and areas for improvement in the ASEAN+3 economies. It is critical that AMRO sustains this effort and develops an effective consultation process with ASEAN+3 economies. BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  Conclusion 25. The journey of regionalism as represented by the CMIM is an ongoing one. Today’s official opening of AMRO is an important milestone in that journey that we can all take pride in. On behalf of my colleagues in ASEAN+3, I would like to congratulate AMRO and its director, Mr Wei Benhua, on your strong start and wish you every success. Let me also extend our warm wishes and full support to Mr Yoichi Nemoto, who will take over from Mr Wei as AMRO director later this year. 26.
To support this growth, we have been building an e-trading ecosystem in Singapore to support electronic trade execution and price discovery in FX  https://www.mas.gov.sg/news/speeches/2021/riding-the-growth-momentum-in-asia  3/11  12/02/2021  "Riding the Growth Momentum in Asia" – Keynote Speech by Ms Jacqueline Loh, Deputy Managing Director (Markets & Development), …  during Asian trading hours, a move that will bring about better execution, lower cost of trading, and greater transparency for market participants. Key global and regional sell-side and buy-side players, as well as e-trading platforms, have anchored their regional pricing and matching engines here, and have seen early successes. Global liquidity providers that have completed the set-up of their pricing and trading engines in Singapore provided feedback that trade-fill ratios have improved, from about 80% to near 100%. Notably, when FX market volatility reached multiyear highs in March last year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the robust e-trading infrastructure in Singapore was able to tide regional market participants over the storm, with relatively good execution. We seek to enhance Singapore’s value proposition as a full-service international fund management and domiciliation hub. The Variable Capital Companies (VCC) framework provides fund managers with a wider suite of investment fund vehicles and potential cost savings from centralising fund management and domiciliation activities, whilst providing new business opportunities for fund managers, service providers and fund advisors. The VCC has seen strong industry adoption, with close to 200 VCCs set up in its first year, for a diverse range of traditional and alternative investment strategies.