AMRO Officially Opens In S'pore

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- The ASEAN+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) officially opened here Friday, commemorating its establishment as an international organisation. "As AMRO grows and develops its surveillance capabilities, it will establish an effective early warning mechanism for emerging risks in the region," said Singapore Minister for Finance Heng Swee Keat at the opening ceremony. "Our vision is for AMRO to develop into an authoritative interpreter of economic and financial developments in the Asian region," he said. AMRO was formally accorded the legal status of an international organisation on Feb 9, 2016, when the agreement signed by ASEAN+3 member states to establish AMRO entered into force. AMRO is the first international organisation established by the ASEAN+3 member states and is headquartered in Singapore. It has close to 40 staff from ASEAN+3 countries. AMRO is the independent macroeconomic surveillance unit of the Chiang Mai Initiative Multilateralisation (CMIM) Agreement. The CMIM is a US$240 billion currency swap arrangement established in 2010 among the Finance Ministries and Central Banks of the ASEAN Member States, China, Japan and Korea (ASEAN+3 member states), to provide financial support in times of liquidity need. AMRO will provide economic and financial surveillance and analysis of the region to support effective decision-making for the CMIM. The opening ceremony was attended by officials from ASEAN+3 Finance Ministries and Central Banks as well as representatives from international organisations, diplomatic missions, financial institutions and economic research institutes. As host country, Singapore is fully committed to supporting AMRO and contributing to regional financial stability. For more information, visit AMRO’s website: http://www.amro-asia.org -- BERNAMA