Deepening Partnership with the Banque de France
Strong partnerships contribute to the success of our efforts to support capacity development for finance officials in South East Europe through learning. We are honored to have been partnering with the Banque de France for a number of consecutive years and advancing our central banking learning program together. We are happy to share some thoughts by Jean-Luc Quemard, Head of the International Banking and Finance Institute (IBFI) at the Banque de France on our long-standing partnership.
Banque de France was founded in the year 1800 and is today a strong pillar of the Eurosystem. Can you tell us what role Banque de France will be playing in the further development of the SEE region and its central banks, especially in the context of the candidate and potential EU candidate countries?
Banque de France has played a key role in strengthening the central banks of the candidate countries during the last enlargements of the European Union, particularly as regards Eastern European countries. The interest is naturally the same for the development of the SEE region and its central banks! Once the process is finalized, they will be its leading partners in the European System of Central Banks.
Your national bank has a long history of cooperation and knowledge sharing, also through its International Banking and Finance Institute (IBFI), which you currently lead. What benefits do you see for an institution like Banque de France to partner with a knowledge hub like the CEF?
First of all, there are very similar approaches between the IBFI and the CEF: permanent pedagogical and digital innovation, constant sharing of experiences, and dynamic teams that really seek to meet users' needs.
In my view, the CEF has established itself as a key partner for cooperating and sharing our experience in the region. It enjoys a real proximity to all the players in the region.
Europe and the rest of the world are coping with an unprecedented crisis. Yet, many positive lessons may be drawn from it. Can you share some of those positive things that your institution, as well as you personally, have learned or discovered in the past year?
The COVID-19 epidemic set in motion a radical change. All central banks have had to adapt and cope with the situation for the well-being of citizens. There have been so many initiatives in all our areas of action, but also very powerful internal reorganizations (think of the generalization of teleworking).
One of the most positive things for me is how all our colleagues in central banks around the world have invested so much to fight this crisis. They have really succeeded in bringing greater resilience, which is absolutely necessary for the sake of our citizens and global stability.