This will both increase our economic resilience and decrease our reliance on the traditional markets for our export growth. Encouragingly this trend of export market diversification has already started before the onset of the crisis. A decade ago, the share of Malaysia’s exports to emerging and developing economies were below 50% of our total exports, but now, the figure has exceeded two-thirds. Going forward, it is important that this trend is reinforced. However, to achieve a more balanced growth, we need to not only leverage on our competitive advantage in the external sector, but also expand the strength of our domestic sector. Since 2003, domestic demand has been a main contributor to our economic growth, especially private consumption, in which growth has consistently outstripped that of the overall economy. Going forward however, a more sustainable balanced growth would require higher contribution from private investment. It is important to recognise that no country has ever managed to consume its way to prosperity. Both economic theory and the history of economic development point to the lesson that high-level of consumption does not guarantee higher rate of economic growth for a sustained period. 4  BIS Review 158/2009  Investment, on the other hand, is a prerequisite for a dynamic economy that is moving towards a higher level of income and development.
Those technological giants (Alipay and WeChat pay) grew so big to build their own ecosystems, a walled garden where fragmentation of the market happened. The terms platformisation and super-apps were coined there. The state then intervened to retain control over the system and to build a one, common, integrated payments system accessible to everyone. To level the playing field. In countries where cash is almost out of use, and the private sector provides digital payments at scale, the financial stability concerns paved the way for the CBDC entry. This is why Swedes started it - to provide a backstop to private payment rails and to render it as a central point of conversion between private digital currencies – a monetary anchor. But what are the main drivers for developing the CBDC here in the eurozone? What drives the ECB and the CNB to follow this path? Because, in essence, and let me be honest here, if we want to pursue our monetary goals, we do not need a new form of money. By affecting the cost of funds, we can do our monetary job well. So, what is it that drives us towards the CBDC, or better to say, towards the digital euro? THE DIGITAL EURO The main reason behind the digital euro project is the declining use of cash. Cash was the most frequently used payment method at the point of sale (POS) in the euro area in 2022 and was used in 59% of transactions, down from 79% in 2016 and 72% in 2019.