Indeed, between 2000 and 2006 the share of the manufacturing sector in gross value added dropped by 5.5 percentage points, while the share of services other than public administration gained more than 6.5 points to 70%. The composition of the services and manufacturing sectors has also changed. In manufacturing, for example, the share of the two largest sectors dropped from 52% in 2000 to 41% in 2006, suggesting that diversification is underway. Industry has also become leaner and increasingly oriented towards capital intensive activities such as generic pharmaceuticals and biomedicine. In the services sector, aircraft maintenance and repair, aviation engineering, software development, call centres and back office and financial services are gaining ground as are well-established activities such as tourism. This change in Malta’s productive structure reflects a conscious policy of moving away from labour intensive, low-value activities to others that use higher skills and have a potential to  4  According to the 2007 e-rankings of the Economist Intelligence Unit, Malta is the 24th most technologically advanced country in the world. The Economist Intelligence Unit defines ‘e-Readiness’ as the ‘state of play’ of a country’s information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and the ability of its consumers, businesses and governments to use ICT to their benefit. Rankings are based on a weighted collection of nearly 100 quantitative and qualitative criteria, organised into six distinct categories measuring the various components of a country’s social, political, economic and technological development. The Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) recognises Malta as one of the Smart21 Communities of 2008.

However, beyond the banking sector’s response, if society is to derive maximum benefit from digitalisation while minimising the costs of the transition, I believe that a comprehensive response is required from the public authorities. A response which surely transcends the financial sphere, to which the financial authorities can no doubt make an important contribution. That is why we are going to focus precisely on improving digital skills in the coming years using, for example, the Financial Education Plan launched jointly by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and 1/2  BIS central bankers' speeches  Digital Transformation, the CNMV and the Banco de España. Because we are fully aware that digital literacy is also part of our financial education. That is also why the Banco de España has long identified the economic and population differences in urban and rural areas (also in terms of access to general services and, more specifically, to banking services) as phenomena that warrant priority analytical attention. Such analysis must provide the basis for informed decision-making. Our most recent annual report, presented before Parliament last year, included a chapter dedicated to these issues. In the coming months we shall present the findings of several studies which examine in depth the phenomenon of financial exclusion in relation to digitalisation processes. Specifically, we are going to present a comparative study of access to cash in Spain and in other euro area countries, focusing particularly on the differences between rural and urban areas.