31 Aug 2010
SPEECH BY H.E. TAN HUNG SENG, AMBASSADOR OF SINGAPORE AT IFTAR FOR THE PARTICIPANTS OF THE MAS TRAINING PROGRAMME FOR THE EGYPTIAN FINANCIAL SUPERVISORY AUTHORITY, 31 AUGUST 2010
Your Excellency Dr Mahmoud Mohieldin, Minister of Investment
Dr Ziad Bahaa-Eldin, Chairman, Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority (EFSA)
Board members of EFSA, distinguished guests, members of the media, ladies and gentlemen,
A very good evening and Ramadan Karim. I am delighted that you are able to accept my invitation for this evening's iftar, which the Singapore Embassy is hosting specially for EFSA's inaugural cohort of financial regulators. They have just successfully completed an intensive and rigorous three-month training programme that included a visit to Singapore, where they underwent a customised course organized by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). To everyone who has successfully completed this milestone programme, I want to wish you "Alf mabrouk". I am also pleased with the positive feedback that I have received, which indicated that the trainees have found the course in Singapore to be useful and more importantly, they had enjoyed an enriching experience in Singapore. Hence, I am looking forward to hear the presentation of their Singapore experience later.
2 I am pleased to report that my MAS colleagues were very impressed by the young regulators' energy and enthusiasm to learn. I am also glad that they had done their part in boosting the retail sector in Singapore through their bountiful "shopping harvest"! But on a more serious note, let me say that when Dr Ziad Bahaa-Eldin first broached the idea of exposing his new EFSA officers to the Singapore experience, I readily agreed to facilitate for three reasons. First, it is yet another manifestation of the excellent state of bilateral relations between Egypt and Singapore. I also know that Minister Mohieldin, who is a good friend of Singapore, has consistently encouraged us to promote closer and deeper relations. For this, I am deeply grateful for Minister Mohieldin's continuous support and his presence here with us this evening. Second, Singapore has always believed in sharing our developmental experience with our friends. Just as we had learnt from other countries after gaining independence in 1965, we are happy to share relevant aspects of our experience with our friends such as Egypt. Third, I am confident that such collaboration will lay a strong foundation for EFSA and MAS to develop stronger ties in the future.
3 As a major financial and banking hub, Singapore understands the importance of establishing a reliable, robust and resilient system to regulate the financial industry. With more than 600 financial institutions in Singapore, the financial sector is a key engine of growth and contributes about 12% of our GDP. In fact, a recent Global Financial Centres Index ranked Singapore fourth among the world's leading international financial centres. Naturally, Singapore was not immune to the recent global financial upheavals. But we were able to weather the crisis because Singapore has painstakingly built a solid reputation as a well-regulated financial and business hub where the rule of law and good corporate governance prevailed. Going forward, there will be many challenges facing regulators like MAS and EFSA. In this context, it is critical for financial regulators to co-operate, collaborate and learn from each other's experiences and mistakes. I am certain that EFSA will continue to study the best practices of other regulators and then adapt and adopt those that will suit Egypt's unique circumstances. I am optimistic that under the leadership of Minister Mohieldin and Chairman Bahaa Eldin, EFSA will continue to grow from strength to strength. As for the freshly minted financial regulators, I want to wish them all the very best and hope that they will find fulfillment and success in their career with EFSA. On that note, I wish everyone an enjoyable evening. Thank you.
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