In other words, the value of a natural resource is converted into a financial asset. The name of the Fund was chosen to reflect this. However, one weakness that may be associated with the Petroleum Fund is that the objective of saving is not sufficiently highlighted. The future use of revenues could have been made clearer either by choosing another name or by earmarking the capital for specific future uses, even though this would imply a constraint on the government’s scope for manoeuvre. The study that is being planned may analyse fundamental and practical aspects of establishing a link between the pension system in Norway and the assets in the Government Petroleum Fund. The National Insurance Fund’s investments are mainly confined to Norway. As a result, changes in the value of the Fund’s equity portfolio primarily reflect developments in Norwegian business and industry. The Fund has larger ownership interests in individual companies than the Petroleum Fund, and wider fluctuations in value. State ownership NOK bn  Financial investor  Strategic owner  15 0  High  10 0  Ris  50  k  Low  0 0 -1  1 -5  5-10  10-15  1 5 -4 0 4 0 - 4 9  5 0 -7 4 7 5 - 9 9  100  Ownership interests per enterprise  Petroleum Fund's equities  National Insurance Fund's equities  Direct ownership  As indicated in the chart, the government has substantial holdings in individual companies.
Gent Sejko: The importance of studying technological and demographic developments disrupting labour, finance and markets Welcome remarks by Mr Gent Sejko, Governor of the Bank of Albania, at the 13th SEE Economic Research Workshop, Tirana, 5 December 2019. * * * Dear Ambassador Maître, Dear guests and speakers from academia, central banks and research institutions, Dear participants, It is a great pleasure for me to open the proceedings of the 13th SEE Economic Research Workshop, in which we present and open for discussion research projects undertaken by the Bank of Albania in the current year, and have the opportunity to get feedback from colleagues from academia, central banks and research institutions worldwide. This is a very important event for the Bank of Albania, since all the projects that will be discussed during the two days of the workshop are designed to help the analysis, decision making and implementation in the areas of monetary policy and financial stability as well as other central bank aspects. Based on this careful formal analysis, our policies have been successful in preserving monetary, macroeconomic and financial stability. Despite hardships, our economy has registered positive growth rates, and our banking system’s performance has been stable. The banking sector is well capitalized and profitable, non-performing loans have decreased and banks continue to support economic activity with credit, while managing potential shocks originated from the external sector of the economy. The agenda is rich and covers the most important areas of research related to traditional central bank activity.