World's financiers call for greater global cooperation at Euromoney Conference

Speakers and panellists at the event called for greater international coordination, as well as changing behaviours on the part of local financial institutions and markets, in response to these new threats.

More than 600 figures from international finance gathered at the "Global Finance Re-Designed" event, which is the first in a series of initiatives organized by Euromoney and the Qatar Central Bank.

Among the national strategies examined at the conference, Qatar was strongly praised by many of the speakers, particularly the recent moves to change legislation to position the Qatar Central Bank to oversee all banking, financial and insurance activity.

H.E. Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs for Qatar, spoke at the conference, saying: "The Qatari economy is maintaining its growth and boom despite all the unfavourable conditions the international economy is witnessing. This, undoubtedly, provides many great and diversified opportunities for investment by local, Arab and international private sectors."

Other representatives from the state of Qatar speaking at the event included H.E. Sheikh Yousef Hussein Kamal, Minister of Economy and Finance, and H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Saud Al-Thani, Governor of the Qatar Central Bank of Qatar.

Qatar's recent legislative changes were also praised by H.E. ZetiAkhtar Aziz, Governor of Bank Negara Malayisa, who spoke of the urgent requirements for greater global financial stability, and highlighted the impact of the internationalisation of financial systems on emerging economies, which often feel the global shocks most severely. She also highlighted the growing destabilising influence of income disparity, both within local economies and between nations, and urged international cooperation to tackle the issue.

Other speakers on Day One of the two-day event included representatives from J.P. Morgan, the UK Treasury, National Bank of Poland, Qatar National Bank, Commercialbank and the Emirates Securities and Commodities Authority.

The Euromoney Qatar Conference is the first part of a three-year programme to chart the role of nations such as Qatar in the emerging global financial system.