Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe M. Medalla is again calling for more collaboration among Asian central banks and financial authorities to have a clearer focus to ensuring financial stability in the region. During the two-day Financial Stability Board Regional Consultative Group for Asia (FSB-RCGA) Meeting on May 16 to 17 in Cebu, Medalla who co-chairs the RCGA, led discussions on key issues such as lingering global “vulnerabilities” as well as non-bank finance and issues surrounding crypto-assets. Medalla said on Wednesday, May 17, that the “changing times also highlight the importance of collaboration.” “For Asia, collectively, we are poised to continue [to account for] the bulk of economic growth for the entire world. From my perspective, the key is [to make] the reference to Asia – although it is very hard to refer to it – as a single entity. But we, I think, can work together, and this diversity actually presents a lot of opportunities, just as it is fraught with challenges,” he said. Medalla added the region’s central banks and financial authorities has had to deal with “shocks” that are unprecedented in the last three years. To navigate through this, collaboration is key. “Where all these put us is that we face a lot of interlinked uncertainties at both regional and global levels. These affect all of us. One can easily make the case that global disruptions require global solutions,” he said. Joining Medalla during the meeting was FSB Chairman and President of De Nederlandsche Bank Klaas Knot, FSB Secretary General John Schindler, and FSB-RCGA co-chair and Reserve Bank of India Deputy Governor M. Rajeshwar Rao. In total, 17 Asian jurisdictions participated in the meeting. Aside from the Philippines, the FSB-RCGA members include the financial authorities from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong SAR, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. The RCGA is one of the six regional committees created by the FSB, an international body based in Basel, Switzerland. The Cebu meeting was its 23rd. It followed up on previous discussion relating to cross-border payment systems, crypto-asset markets, decentralized finance, climate change risks as well as the resilience of non-bank financial intermediaries. The BSP also co-hosted its second conference with the International Monetary Fund while in Cebu, on May 15 to 16. The discussion also centered on financial stability and managing systemic risks in the region.