A remarkable growth in trade However, in one area the figures show clearly how great the changeover has been: trade. Many who have not had the opportunity to study the former planned economies in central and eastern Europe believe that they, for historical reasons, are fairly closed and that their trade is relatively Russiaoriented. In actual fact, the candidate countries are among Europe's most open economies, with a larger percentage of trade in their GDP, and a larger percentage of this trade with EU countries, than many EU countries have themselves. The EU's trade with the 10 candidate countries is increasing more rapidly than that with any other geographical area in the world. During the period 1995-2000, i.e. in just five years, this trade has doubled. The percentage of intermediate goods (components) for western companies is growing, as is the percentage of goods with a high technology content. There are numerous examples of how eastern European companies are specialising to adapt to sophisticated co-operation with western European companies. Hungary is now competing with Ireland to attract the assembly of computers and cars, Estonia is a large sub-contractor to both Swedish clothing firms and to Ericsson, Nokia and their suppliers. st  Eastern Europe may be Europe's major opportunity at the beginning of the 21 century, after having trailed behind the USA in terms of growth at the end of the 1990s.
Likewise, exports from EMEs to EMEs increased from $ trillion to $ trillion during the same period. The increase in the volume of trade among EMEs has, to some extent, reduced the adverse effects of the weak course of external demand from advanced economies. Thereby, production and employment levels in EMEs have achieved a rapid pace of recovery after the 2008 global crisis. In line with the increased importance of these economies, we also witness significant changes in decision-making mechanisms worldwide. A wide range of important decisions on issues ranging from food and energy security to strengthening the global financial system are made at the Group of Twenty (G20). In line with the recent increase in their role in the G-20, the voice and representation of EMEs among international institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, the Basel Committee and the Financial Stability Board is increasing as well. Distinguished Guests, EMEs withstood the global turmoil better than expected. A certain degree of decoupling has been observed between emerging and advanced economies in this regard. Underlying this resilience were several distinct factors, including sound fiscal fundamentals, a relatively low degree of leverage in the private sector, a lower reliance on wholesale funding as part of a more traditional banking business model and minimal exposure to toxic financial products. Improvements in the financial sector regulation and supervision frameworks have also added to this resilience. Although EMEs proved resilient during the global financial crisis, they have experienced new challenges in the aftermath of the crisis.