Seminar of the Eurosystem and Latin American central banks to be held in Madrid on 23 and 24 May 2002

As part of a joint initiative, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Banco de Espana will hold a Seminar of the Eurosystem and Latin American central banks on 23 and 24 May 2002. This "Madrid Seminar" will be hosted by the Banco de Espana and held at its premises. The President of the ECB, Mr. Willem F. Duisenberg, and the Governor of the Banco de Espana, Mr. Jaime Caruana, will deliver opening addresses.

This will be the first high-level seminar involving the Eurosystem and Latin American central banks. A preparatory workshop at expert level was held at the ECB in Frankfurt on 21 and 22 March 2002. The aim of the seminar will be to improve policy dialogue between the Eurosystem and Latin American central banks and share views on issues of common interest. The seminar will primarily focus on the following three topics: regional integration in Latin America and Europe, monetary and exchange rate policies and financial sector issues.

Participants in the seminar will include high-level representatives of Latin American central banks (The Banco Central de la Republica Argentina, the Banco Central de Bolivia, the Banco Central do Brasil, the Banco Central de Chile, the Banco Central del Ecuador, the Banco Central del Paraguay, the Banco Central de Reserva del Peru, the Banco Central del Uruguay, the Banco Central de Venezuela, the Banco de Mexico and the Banco de la Republica, Colombia), the ECB and national central banks of the Eurosystem. Representatives of regional fora have also been invited to attend the seminar, including the

Press and Information Division of the ECB KaiserstraBe 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main Postfach 6 03 19, D-60066 Frankfurt am Main Tel.: +49 69 13 44 74 54; Fax +49 69 13 44 74 04

Press Office of the Banco de Espana

Gabinete de Prensa

Alcala 50, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Tel.: +34 91 338 50 44; Fax: +34 91 338 52 03

Inter-American Development Bank, the European Commission, the Centre for Latin American Monetary Studies and the Central American Monetary Council.

A press conference, to be held at the Banco de Espana at 5.30 p.m. on 24 May 2002, will be chaired by Mr. Jaime Caruana, Governor of the Banco de Espana, Mr. Tommaso Padoa- Schioppa, member of the Executive Board of the ECB, and Mr. Guillermo Ortiz, President of the Centro de Estudios Monetarios Latinoamericanos and Governor of the Banco de Mexico.

Venue: Banco de Espana calle Alcala 50 28014 Madrid

Time: 5.30 p.m. C.E.T.

Access to the conference will be granted as of 4.30 p.m. C.E.T.

Members of the press wishing to attend the press conference, for which simultaneous English- Spanish and Spanish-English interpretation will be provided, should register their attendance by contacting the Press Office of the Banco de Espana (Tel.: +34 91 338 52 03) or the European Central Bank Press and Information Division (Tel.: +49 69 13 44 74 54) by 23 May 2002. Access to the press conference will be via the main entrance of the Banco de Espana (calle Alcala 50) from 4.30 p.m. onwards.

Press and Information Division of the ECB KaiserstraBe 29, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main Postfach 6 03 19, D-60066 Frankfurt am Main Tel.: +49 69 13 44 74 54; Fax +49 69 13 44 74 04

Press Office of the Banco de Espana

Gabinete de Prensa

Alcala 50, 28014 Madrid, Spain

Tel.: +34 91 338 50 44; Fax: +34 91 338 52 03