22 May 2006...The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will host a high-level seminar on Asian regional financial integration in Singapore on Thursday, May 25, 2006. This second high-level seminar is a follow-up to the inaugural event held in Singapore on September 3, 2005.
2 As with the first seminar, Finance Ministers, Central Banks Governors and senior officials from 13 countries in Asia, and from the IMF, will participate. They will discuss opportunities and challenges of Asian financial integration as well as ways to strengthen regional financial stability and monetary cooperation.
3 Mr. Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Education and Deputy Chairman of MAS, who will co-chair the seminar with IMF Managing Director Mr Rodrigo de Rato, said: MAS is happy to co-host the second high-level seminar on Asian regional financial integration, as a lead-up to the 2006 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings to be held in September. The seminar will build on some of the key themes from the first seminar, including the importance of Asia integrating not only within itself but also with the rest of the world.
4 The IMF fully supports efforts toward greater financial integration in Asia, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said. By co-hosting this seminar, the second in a series, we want to underline not only the importance of Asia and the significance of regional financial integration, but also a commitment to deepening the IMF's engagement with this process. More generally, I am also looking forward to strengthening the IMF's engagement with the region through the forthcoming 2006 Annual Meetings of the IMF and World Bank, which will be held in Singapore in September this year.