Bank of Papua New Guinea Hosting the 50th SEACEN Central Bank
Governors Conference & High-Level Seminar, and the 34th SEACEN Board
of Governors Meeting, 20-22 November 2014.
The Governor of the Bank of PNG, Mr Loi Martin Bakani, announced today that the
Bank is, for the first time after becoming a member in 2005, honoured to host the
50th SEACEN Central Bank Governors Conference & High-Level Seminar, and the 34th
SEACEN Board of Governors Meeting in Port Moresby from 20 to 22 November 2014
About SEACEN
The South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Research and Training Centre was
established as a legal entity on 3 February 1982 by central banks/monetary
authorities viz; Bank Indonesia, Bank Negara Malaysia, Nepal Rastra Bank, Central
Bank of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Bank of Thailand, Bangko Central ng Pilipinas, Monetary
Authority of Singapore. Till 2014, there are twenty two member central banks and
monetary authorities as members of the SEACEN Centre, with the Hong Kong
Monetary Authority being the latest joining member in 2014 before the event
Since its inception, the SEACEN Centre has established its unique regional position in
serving its membership in the Asia-Pacific region through its learning programmes,
research works, and networking and collaboration platforms for capability building in
central banking knowledge.
Over the years, SEACEN has built a wide network base, in that besides its members,
the Centre has an outreach of 15 invitees and 1 observer central bank which are
invited for the Centre’s learning programmes, as well as 26 regional and
international strategic partners with whom the Centre collaborates in the design and
delivery of its programmes in central banking knowledge areas (Macroeconomic and
Monetary Policy Management; Financial Stability and Supervision; and Payment and
Settlement System) and Leadership and Governance.
Introduction to Program
The South East Asian Central Banks (SEACEN) Governors’ Conference began as an
informal gathering of the governors of central banks in the South East Asian (SEA)
Voting Group of the International Monetary Fund to discuss economic and financial
issues of common interest to the group. The 1st Governors’ Conference was hosted
by the Bank of Thailand in Bangkok in 1966. Subsequently, the Conference was
held annually with the respective SEACEN member banks playing host by rotation.
Upon the informal establishment of the SEACEN Research and Training Centre in
1972, discussion on matters related to the SEACEN Centre was also included as part
of the agenda of the SEACEN Governors’ Conference. The practice has changed and
a separate meeting of the SEACEN Board of Governors (BOG) has been held back-
to-back with the Governor’s Conference since then.
This year 2014 marks the 50 th SEACEN Governor’s Conference/High-Level Seminar
and the 3 4 th Meeting of the SEACEN B oard of Governors and the Bank of Papua New
Guinea is indeed honoured to be the host of the event.
The main objective of the Governor’s Conference is to provide a venue for the
governors of the SEACEN member as well as observe central banks to discuss and
exchange views on economic and financial issues of common interest.
A press communique of the presentations and proceedings is then adopted at the
Board of Governors meeting, which will occur on Friday 21st November 2014
Brief Description on Conference Theme
The theme of the 50th SEACEN Central Bank Governors conference and High Level
Seminar is “Regional Initiatives in the Midst of Vulnerabilities.
”
It is now generally recognized that central banks need to devise monetary policy
strategies that include both financial stability and price stability as objectives. The
expanded mandate brings additional challenges: among them, finding appropriate
policy instruments to deal with multiple objectives; devising procedures for
coordinating the use of the instruments; and adapting communication strategies to
keep stake-holders appropriately informed.
Increased international integration of financial markets, in part driven by regional
initiatives to promote such integration, is but one of the structural elements that
amplify the complexity of the challenges, as cross-border transmission of financial
conditions interact with domestic markets to determine both macroeconomic and
financial stability conditions.
Policies to deal with cross-border financial linkages and regional initiatives to
promote financial integration thus need to be combined such that they are mutually
reinforcing and at the same time complementary with the management of domestic
policies. In this context this conference will focus on three particular areas: (1)
reconciling domestic and cross-border considerations in the use of macro-prudential
and capital-flow-management tools; (2) steps to further the development of regional
bond markets and their implication for monetary policy strategies; and (3) issues
and challenges associated with increased integration of emerging market banking
systems.
There are distinguished speakers from the International Monetary Fund, Bank for
International Settlements and Financial Services Advisory Board/Australia APEC
Study Centre.
SEACEN is growing and improving all the time in delivering on its objectives for its
member central banks. In this regard, the 34th SEACEN BOG meeting will deliberate
on agenda items that will take us forward into the coming SEACEN program year
and beyond.
The events will be held at the Laguna Hotel in Port Moresby and will be opened by
the Minister for Treasury, Honourable Patrick Pruatich on Thursday 20th November
2014.
BPNG is privileged and honoured to be hosting these prestigious events this year. It
is also a great opportunity to share the progress of our economy as well as the
diverse cultural background of our people to the Central Bank Governors and officials
from the Asia-Pacific region and international organizations.
Please join with me in welcoming and making our distinguished guests enjoy their short stay in Port Moresby.
Loi M. Bakani
Governor