Statement by
President Tadao Chino
Asian Development Bank

On the Occasion of the Launch of the AsianBondsOnline Web Site

15 May 2004
ICC Jeju, Republic of Korea

Your Excellencies, friends from the media, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be joining all of you today for the launch of AsianBondsOnline.

The Asian Development Bank is honored to support another important initiative under the ASEAN+3 framework. This web site is designed to be a one-stop clearinghouse of information on the region's rapidly developing bond markets. It offers investors easy and centralized access to information about a segment of the global financial market that is growing in size and importance.

AsianBondsOnline is an important part of the broader ASEAN+3 Asian Bond Markets Initiative, which aims to help develop mature bond markets in Asia. I am very pleased that, for the first time, concrete steps are being taken at the regional level, by the ASEAN+3 and other groups, to complement individual country efforts in developing bond markets, and that ADB is supporting many of these efforts.

With the launch of the first phase of AsianBondsOnline today, the focus is now on providing key information on bond markets of the ASEAN+3 countries through links to existing web sites. In the future, the web site will expand its coverage by providing more in-depth information and analysis.

I sincerely hope that through AsianBondsOnline, the broader ASEAN+3 Asian Bond Markets Initiative, and government and private sector initiatives of individual countries, bond markets in the region will flourish. These initiatives will help to avoid the double mismatch of currencies and maturities that was at the heart of the 1997 Asian financial crisis. They will play a key role in transforming Asia's large levels of savings into long-term investments within the region, which will be so essential for developing Asia in achieving sustainable economic growth and reducing poverty.

Thank you.