ABSTRACT
The National Bank of Hungary takes great pleasure in hosting this academic seminar of the European Association for Banking History. Our bank became a member of the association in 1993 and, while the selection of Budapest as the venue for this meeting might be a polite gesture - an appreciation of a new member's enthusiasm - there must be more involved, and in particular the recognition of the whole of this region's significance. Currently, all the countries of east central Europe, the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and the Baltic are experiencing historic changes. Some, including Hungary, are undergoing the painful process of returning to the market economy. Elsewhere, new structures and institutions of the nation state, and in particular of the national economy, are being resurrected. However, in some cases, it is clearly difficult to talk about the revival of the market economy as its tradition has faded into the distant past Therefore, the key task today is to create, as opposed to re-create.
