I would now like to highlight the key initiatives that both sides 1/7  BIS central bankers' speeches  have delivered this year: First, Singapore took key measures to deepen our commitment to China’s markets:  In January this year, MAS was amongst the first group of central banks and sovereign wealth funds to sign up to participate in China’s inter-bank foreign exchange market. In addition, the third China-Singapore government-to-government project was launched in Chongqing. In June this year, MAS announced the inclusion of RMB investments as part of Singapore’s Official Foreign Reserves. This was done in recognition of the steady and calibrated liberalisation of China’s financial markets, and the growing acceptance of RMB assets in the global portfolio of institutional investors. Second, we have strengthened supervisory cooperation:  In April , the inaugural China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC)–MAS Supervisory Roundtable was held to exchange views and perspectives on supervision of capital markets activities. In July this year, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) and MAS organised our first exchange session to facilitate deeper bilateral discussions in the area of insurance. Third, we continued to broaden financial cooperation:  In March, the existing cross-border RMB initiatives in Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-city were expanded to the cities of Suzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing. In July, MAS’ Managing Director Mr Ravi Menon hosted the Singapore-China (Chongqing) Financial Conference. The event saw a good response of more than 400 participants.
7 Built upon a bedrock of strong financial cooperation ties, the Shanghai –Singapore partnership has flourished over the years. I foresee that our partnership will receive a boost under a more dynamic Asian financial landscape. II. Evolving New Asian Financial Landscape 8 Many observers have expressed their opinion that in recent years, a gradual shifting of the world’s economic centre of gravity to Asia has taken place. With the shift, many expect a new Asian Financial Landscape to emerge, presenting tremendous new opportunities ahead. Let us look at how this financial landscape is expected to evolve:  Asia’s economic size and rate of growth will pack a much stronger punch in the new era. In 1990, Asia’s share of global GDP was 23.2%. By 2014, this had increased to 38.8%, much larger than the shares of the U.S. and the E.U. If current growth trends continue, Oxford Economics forecast that Asia’s share will reach nearly 45% by 20253. OECD estimates4 that the size of the global middle class will increase to 4.9 billion by 2030. The bulk of this growth will come from Asia. By 2030, Asia will represent almost two-thirds of the global middle-class population and almost 60% of middle-class consumption. With increasing economic weight, Asia is expected to play a leading role in global financial markets. I made similar observations in a speech last week at the ASIFMA Annual Conference in Singapore: Equity markets in Asia recorded strong growth over the past ten years.