This involves collaboration between the banking industry, Regtech solution providers, industry associations, and the regulators. 19. I therefore strongly urge you to become an active participant in the Regtech ecosystem here. Your participation in today’s event is an important step in promoting such momentum. Through continuous collaboration and knowledge-sharing, we can enlarge and enrich our Regtech ecosystem and, in the longer run, turn Hong Kong into a global leading Regtech hub. 20. I also hope very much that this event has been helpful for the participants in either kick3/4  BIS central bankers' speeches  starting or accelerating your own Regtech adoption journey. As more resources are put into this effort and Regtech awareness grows, I am sure we will soon see the fruits of our joint efforts. Closing 21. To conclude on behalf of the HKMA, I would like to say how very grateful we are to the speakers, moderators, and other guests for their generous sharing of experience. I hope that everyone here, like me, has found these sharing insightful, and that you have all gained a better understanding of the potential of Regtech and how to implement it in your respective institutions. I also sincerely hope that Hong Kong will advance as a global Regtech hub, leading the way with a new approach to risk management and regulatory compliance. With that, I will now officially close this event but I would once again invite you to join us on the next stage of our exciting Regtech journey.
The deficits are currently large in all of the vulnerable countries, but while Ireland and Spain have been able to show a balance or surplus during the years prior to the crisis, Italy and Portugal have shown a deficit throughout. (Slide: General government net lending in Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain). A common precondition for the ability of these countries to renew their loans at a manageable cost is the credibility of their fiscal policy consolidation plans. The example of Ireland points to a credible consolidation plan with concrete decisions on large cuts in public expenditure being able to reverse an upward trend in interest rates, while the greatest pressure is currently on Portugal, where the ten-year rate rose last week. (Slide: Government bond rates of Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain, compared with those of Germany). The more favourable the conditions for the development of domestic and foreign demand, the greater are the chances that good GDP growth will be able to reduce the problems in public finances. Those countries that have not had large falls in asset prices, including Italy, do not risk suppressed domestic demand in the same way as, for instance, Spain and Ireland, where property prices have fallen substantially. With regard to demand from abroad, the problems are made more severe by wages and prices having grown faster in these countries than in the euro area as a whole since the euro was introduced.