Thank you to the Oesterreichische (“aw-ster-rye-hy-sha”) Nationalbank for inviting me to speak on this important occasion, and to Governor Holzman for organizing this conference on events with great significance for us at the IMF — the 80th anniversary of the creation of our institution and the 75th anniversary of Austria’s joining as a member and since then playing a strong and constructive role.

We owe a debt of gratitude Austria for our fruitful collaboration over the years.

The Joint Vienna Institute, a joint undertaking of the OeNB, and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Finance, and the Fund, has provided training to public sector officials from countries in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia for more than 30 years. The Institute plays a crucial role in strengthening economic policies through the training it provides and by serving as a hub for networking and peer learning among policymakers. It has also been a great platform to collaborate on capacity building with other partners such as the EBRD, the EIB, the OECD, the World Bank, the WTO, and the European........

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