Hong Kong’s competitive edge in hard power and soft power has been a hardearned success made possible through the cumulative effort of successive generations. But I think the most crucial factor lies in the “can-do” spirit of the people of Hong Kong, a drive to always look for a solution, agilely and tirelessly, with no fear of obstacles or competition. Our economic transformation and development in the 1960s and 1970s, migrating from entrepôt trade to light industry and then finance, is a story of constant change and innovation. And, especially since the Mainland’s reform and opening up, we have always been a testing  BIS central bankers’ speeches  3  ground, a buffer zone and a springboard. When Hong Kong’s manufacturing base moved to the Mainland, we changed to trade intermediation and focused on logistics management and offshore trade. We also developed our services industries, especially high value-added and modern services including professional and financial services. Our economy has always adapted and transformed itself in response to the constantly shifting economic landscape of the Mainland and the rest of the world. Conclusion: levering the Mainland while engaging the world 12. The pivot of the Mainland’s economic growth is expected to shift to domestic consumption, innovation and efficiency enhancement, as well as market opening. There will also be more Mainland companies investing abroad.
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.